


With Friends Like These

by the_mad_hellcat



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Anal Sex, Bottom Barry Allen, Daddy Kink, Disastrous First Date, Everything that can possibly go wrong will, Explicit Sexual Content, Leonard Snart doesn't do relationships, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Protective Caitlin Snow, Protective Cisco Ramon, Protective Iris West, Protective Leonard Snart, Rimming, Secret Relationship, Slut Shaming, Top Leonard Snart, until he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-10 23:37:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12922638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_mad_hellcat/pseuds/the_mad_hellcat
Summary: It was a fluke, Barry had been so careful hiding his frenemy-with-benefits thing with Leonard Snart only to be found when trying to get a necklace back for Cisco that Walker stole.  Cisco caught them sharing a meal and has it in his head that they are in a relationship and shares the details with Iris and Caitlin.  When Barry explains they aren't in a relationship, Iris has the perfect solution to the issue: go out on a date with Leonard Snart without sex or hero/villain bantering to see how much of a terrible human being in is and Barry will dump him, but if Barry doesn't then Team Flash will support his relationship.  Now if he can only get Len on board...





	With Friends Like These

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nixie_DeAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixie_DeAngel/gifts).



> Happy Holidays to one of my favorite authors, Nixie_deAngel. Thank you for sharing your wonderful stories with us and always looking forward to your next post. You are amazing! <3

It is a universal fact that Barry Allen cannot keep a secret, especially from Team Flash.  Iris and Cisco know where to press him to get him to admit to anything.  Well, almost anything.  He did keep one teeny tiny secret, the fact he was sleeping with Leonard Snart.  And by sleeping he meant fucking on an almost daily basis, although recently Len had been staying over the entire night… but that was beside the point.  Barry knew, logically, that this arrangement was a bad idea, no doubt that Len did as well, but that didn’t stop them from punning during their Cold/Flash fights and going at it like rabbits when the cowl and parka came off.  He had been going behind his team’s back for almost nine months and they didn’t appear any wiser.  He could keep his secret relationship a better secret than his secret identity. Although there was this growing part of Barry that didn’t want to keep it a secret and wanted to tell his friends and family, he still wasn’t sure exactly what he and Len were so wasn’t sure what exactly to tell them.

It wasn’t until Cisco caught them at Saints and Sinners, Barry was supposed to try to be getting Cold’s help getting Axel Walker to give a diamond necklace he stole from Cisco back that was a present for his girlfriend’s birthday.  And by girlfriend read Lisa Snart, although officially no one was supposed to have known that.  Axel seemed to target Cisco for most of his pranks since Axel was good friends with Hartley and Cisco well…. wasn’t.  Len had already given Barry back the necklace as soon as he came in, but (like normal) both men were hungry and decided to share a meal since it was dinner time and they were both here.  And if Delilah the bartender had their orders memorized and always made sure to have extra fries ready to go at 7PM on Wednesday, when Barry typically walked in the door, no one was the wiser.

One minute, Len was smirking complaining animatedly that the Hamilton Art Gallery hadn’t fixed the alarm at the south entrance yet so it makes last night’s heist a total cakewalk not worthy of his time and effort then his face shifted into his Captain Cold face, his body language was totally closed off and a cold fury was banked in his eyes. Barry was shocked, he had never seen him get like this before and tried to figure out what caused him to switch from Len to Cold.  That is when he saw Cisco standing in the doorway, sticking out like a sore thumb, gaping at Barry and Len like a fish out of water.  Well, this was embarrassing.  Barry stood up and went over to Cisco when he started pointing at the table like an idiot, which caused Len to growl.    “What are you doing here?” Barry said as he grabbed Cisco and turned him away from Len Cold.

“What are you doing having dinner with Cold?  You are supposed to be getting the necklace back, not getting cozy with… oh, my god!  Are you dating Cold?  Barry how could…”

“You are dating his sister so don’t get sanctimonious with me!” Barry said quietly.

“There is a big difference between Lisa and Cold.”

“No, there isn’t,” Barry said, “and you know it.  I will get your necklace back but you need to leave now.”

“So you can continue your date?” Cisco’s voice went up an octave, “you aren’t fooling anyone.  Not even the bartender over there.”

“Her name is Delilah and you see that dish towel she has over her shoulder.  She can kill you fifteen different ways with that before you can even think of defending yourself.”  Barry didn’t need to turn around to know Delilah must have made a threatening gesture with that dish towel because the wide-eyed look of terror on Cisco’s face said it all.  “Now go back to the Lab, I will be there in an hour with the necklace if Cold will even help me anymore because you made a scene.  And if you are smart you will not breathe a word…”

A ping from Cisco’s cellphone interrupted Barry as he took it out and read the text message, “Oh yeah, Iris is pissed you have been dating Cold as well!”

“What?!” Barry took Cisco’s phone from him and saw he had sent Caitlin and Iris (thank God he didn’t have Oliver’s mobile number) a picture of Barry and Len sitting at the booth.  Oh god, Barry winced when he saw the adoring look he had on his face when he was looking at Len.  Thank god, Len has his head tilted to the side so you could see it was him, but couldn’t see his total facial expression.  “You are lucky I didn’t send it to Joe!” Cisco said, “we are going to talk about this back at the Lab.”

“Snart,” Delilah said, “you have your Cold Gun with you? I am very tempted to temporarily lift the ban on its use in the dining area.”

Cisco yelped and threw up his hands, grabbing his phone from Barry, slowly backing toward the door, “I am leaving, I am leaving.”

Barry didn’t move until Cisco was out the door and the door shut firmly behind him.  He slowly walked back to the booth and knew he was in trouble.  “Cisco was way out of line and before he gets that damn necklace back he and I will be talking about personal boundaries.”

“He is very lucky I know that necklace for my sister or else I would ice the ice,” Len’s eyes narrowed.

“I am sorry, Len,” Barry said, reaching out to touch his hand, but Len moved his hands out of Barry’s range, one in his lap and the other to pick up a French fry. Ouch, that stung.  Like a lot.

“Make sure that you make one thing clear to Team Goody-Two-Shoes that we are not dating.  This was a purely business meeting that happened to take place during a time we were both hungry. I don’t date, I don’t do relationships and I definitely do not do boyfriends or any type of romantic partners, especially not with my archenemy.”

Barry and Len had a similar discussion after the first time Len had given Barry a blowjob, but it wasn’t so fridged and straightforward.  Suddenly Barry lost his appetite, a rare occurrence for a speedster. “Yeah, I will make sure they know,” Barry nodded as he pushed his plate away, he had barely touched it.  He took out his wallet and threw a $20 down on the table, “tell Dee she can keep the change.”

 

It actually was Len’s turn to buy the food, but Barry did not feel comfortable with that arrangement tonight.  He just flashed out of there and straight to Star Labs, beating Cisco there by fifteen minutes. Caitlin and Iris were already there, arms crossed and looking highly unamused.  Barry placed the velvet necklace box, with the said necklace inside at Cisco’s workstation.  He leaned against the wall next to the Flash suit and waited for them to start, but they must have been waiting for Cisco.  The tension in the room was thick and it was driving Barry crazy.  As soon as Cisco walked in, Caitlin and Iris started, “What were you thinking?” Iris asked.

“Were you thinking?” Caitlin asked.

Cisco looked over and saw Barry. Before he could start Barry said, “The necklace is at your workstation.  You are lucky Snart knows the identity of your girlfriend or else it would have been a cold day in hell before he would have helped.  You made a complete ass out of us!  Do you know how embarrassing that was?  I am horrified.  Len didn’t have to help you, you know why he did because he isn’t the complete asshole you think he is.  You pointed at us like we were circus freaks.”

“But you are dating Cold!” Cisco wailed, “he strapped a bomb under Caitlin’s chair, kidnapped me and my brother so I could build him the Cold, Heat and create the Gold guns then gave Dante frostbite so I would reveal your secret identity.  How can you date a monster like that?”

“Ok you have a selective memory then,” Barry got right in Cisco’s face, “who seduced you and led you right into that trap where Len had your brother?  Who did nothing to help you or your brother?  Oh yeah, Lisa Snart!”

“She kept Rory from kicking our asses!”

“Lisa at least apologized,” Caitlin said, “Snart hasn’t!”

“When did Lisa apologize?” Barry asked.

“She took Caitlin and me out for a girls night a few months ago,” Iris said, “to try to patch things up.”

“And I didn’t hear about this because?” Barry asked, not that he cared.  He liked Lisa and she would be a great friend and ally for Caitlin and Iris to have so he wasn’t upset about that, but being kept in the dark.

“We didn’t want you being upset or worried about us,” Iris said, “we are big girls and can take care of ourselves.”

“I have no issue with Lisa,” Barry said, “I am really glad you are all getting along.”

“But Snart, on the other hand, is a different matter!  He is just using you, Barry, that man has betrayed you and has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever!” Iris said.

“I am not going to sit here and arguing about Len… Cold to you.”

“Len now is he?” Caitlin asked.

“Look, he and I are not dating.”

“Looked like a date to us,” Iris said, Caitlin and Cisco nodded their heads vigorously in agreement.

“Well looks can be deceiving,” Barry said, “he doesn’t date or do the relationship thing.  We try to be civil with each other off the clock because it’s mutually beneficial.”

“Oh my god,” Cisco said, “you guys are fucking.”

Barry turned his signature scarlet red, “No, we are not!”

“You so are,” Iris said.

“That’s not the mutually beneficial I was talking about.”

“But you are fucking.  That would explain why you are in such a good mood all the time.”

“And why you keep ignoring all the hot girls and guys I kept introducing you to at the Violet Club!”

“That place was practically a sex club,” Barry squeaked, glad in his decision he never told Len about that little adventure, “and not my scene.”

“At least tell me if he is good in bed.  Who tops?”

“That is none of your business!”

“So you are sleeping with Cold then?”

“Just stop it!”

“Rushing home after patrol, getting to work on time,” Iris said, “Dad thought you had been replaced by a clone for a while.”

Caitlin said, “And you haven’t been hypoglycemic in months.  You have been with Cold for seven months, haven’t you?”

“I. Am. Not. Dating. Leonard Snart.  He made that perfectly clear after Cisco left… I mean… he doesn’t do relationships and neither do I.”

“Says the only guy I know that will go see romcoms with me,” Caitlin said.

“I am not dating, Snart.  Ok!  Get off my back.”

“Ok, I will totally admit, Snart is super sexy,” Iris said, “I see the appeal and with his highly methodical and reads people very well so I am sure he is absolutely fantastic in bed, but a relationship is not all about sex.”

“What will it take for you guys to get off my back about this?”

“Dump Snart.  Call him and dump him right now,” Cisco said.

“Very hard to dump someone that you aren’t dating!” Barry said, ready to pull his hair out.

“Barry, I know if you got to spend time with Snart, I mean quality time with him then you would see him for the unfeeling, jackass that he is,” Cisco said.

“How can you say that about Lisa’s brother? She absolutely adores him.”

“Snart only cares about two things, money and Lisa,” Cisco said, “Even Lisa will admit that.”

“I hate all of you right now,” Barry sighed.

Iris walked over and pulled Barry into a hug, surprising the speedster, “It’s ok, Barry, look I know we are being super hard on you but that is because we care about you and want you to be happy in the long run.  OK, so you are not dating Snart in the traditional sense, then that is great, but I think you should.”

“What!?!” Caitlin and Cisco yelled in unison.

“I think you should ask him on a date, a real date you know the movie and dinner type and I think spending an evening with him without sex or your pun-flirting thing you to do while fighting, you will realize that there is nothing about him to actually be attracted to.  You have always been more about personality than physical appearance.  You get to see his less than stellar personality, his cold indifference, and his ego then you will run for the hills.”

“Wait, you want me to date Snart?”

“Yes, go on a date with Snart.  Have some self-respect, Barry, and don’t sleep with him again until he goes on a real date with you.  And if you go on a real date with him and have an amazing time then we will all support you in your decision to be with Snart in any way your crazy frenemy relationship works.”

“If I go on a date with Len you will get off my ass?  And not tell Joe?”

“Promise,” Iris said, she turned and must have given Caitlin and Cisco a look because they nodded in agreement as well.

Barry smiled slightly, “Ok, I will do it, but you better keep your word!”

“We will,” Iris promised, “now it looks like it is going to be quiet tonight so go home and…” Barry’s stomach growled “… get something to eat.”

“Dude, you just ate.”

“You arrived a few minutes after the food did,” Barry said, “I only took like three bites.”

 

Barry walked into his condo, he originally had a crappy one bedroom apartment he could afford on his CSI salary, but had been convinced to upgrade to a condo in a better part of town that had a doorman and actual security.    It was a 3 bedroom, he purchased it outright, and had one bedroom as a gym and the second as an office of sorts.  Joe had been happy with the move, he didn’t tell him that it was actually Len’s idea.  He had shown Barry how easy it was to break into his apartment and how much unnecessary danger he was putting himself and his belongings in.  Len had started to spend the entire night when he moved into the condo, even helped him pick out the security system and that was worth the price and the headache of the move.  He really liked his neighbors and the building had community events that were also a lot of fun.  The view was amazing and it felt more like home than any of his previous apartments had.

He locked up, making sure to lock the deadbolt that Len insist that he got and went to turn off the security system, but found it had already been disabled.  Barry knew that he turned it on this morning, he told himself he was turning it on as he did it to help him remember.  Hey, the lights were on as well.  “Hello?” Barry called.

Len came out of the kitchen, carrying two plates, one in each hand, over to the dining table.  “I picked up our usual from Mr. Lam’s and Pizza City,” Len said.  Whenever Len brought Chinese or Pizza without talking to Barry about it first, he was trying to apologize.  He got both then he must really feel bad.

“Is that our food from Saints & Sinners?” Barry asked as he eyed the yummy burger he never got to touch from earlier on the plate Len put at his seat.

“It’s a crime to waste good food and I know you have to be hungry.”

“Yeah, I am,” Barry smiled as he took out his wallet from his pocket and his keys, putting them in the red ceramic dish on the small table right by the door, slipped off his shoes and put it under the table, right next to Len’s boots, before walking over and taking his seat.  He could see the insane amount of food just waiting for them in the kitchen from his seat.  Wow, Len must have felt worse than Barry originally thought.  “I am really sorry about Cisco,” Barry said, “I had a talk with him, Caitlin and Iris when I got back to the lab.”

“Good.”

“And they know we aren’t dating, although they didn’t believe me at first, I was able to convince them at the end…”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Len cut him off, closed his eyes a moment and sighed, “I know we probably need to, but let's wait until tomorrow morning.  You don’t go in until 2nd shift so we will have plenty of time.”

“Tomorrow is my 2nd shift day?” Barry asked, Len just rolled his eyes as Barry look out his cellphone to check.  Yep, Len was right.  How did the man know his schedule better than Barry did?  “Yes, it is.  Ok, I am all for having this conversation in the morning. Just want to state for the record: Joe doesn’t know, they won’t tell him, so you don’t have to worry about being shot to protect my virtue.”

“Like there is any of that left,” Len smirked.  Barry picked up a french fry and threw it at him, “So what happened next after you bypassed the secondary alarm system at the Hamilton?”

“You really want to hear the rest of that story?”

“Yeah, so the Flash can give them tips to better improve their security,” Barry winked and Len glared at him playfully (Len has seven different types of glares, FYI), “hey, just trying to help.  I know how grumpy boring heists make you if it isn’t a challenge it isn’t fun then when I get there you don’t want to pun and then actually hit me with the cold gun.”

“That was an accident,” Len said his eyes flashed in alarm at the memory.  Barry had gotten so used to Cold pulling his punches that he only half paid attention to him, while he was focused on Axel who appeared to be trying to pole dance on a halberd, sending the entire collection clattering to the ground, causing a domino effect on the other displays.  It was almost like something out of a slapstick comedy.  He ended up getting iced to the wall across his lower abdomen/groin area, it gave a new meaning to blue balls.  The Rogues felt so bad for him that they actually stop attacking him and left, only taking what they could grab on the way out.  It took him 10 minutes to be able to vibrate himself through the ice and speed limped back to Star Labs.  Even with his enhanced healing, it took him almost two days before the phantom pains stopped making peeing uncomfortable borderline painful and sex impossible.  Len got no nookie for almost four entire days, but that served him right.

“I know,” Barry laughed, “I wouldn’t think that you would render me incapable of sex on purpose.”

A dark wave of emotion crossed Len’s face, but it was only there a moment.  “Len, I know it was an accident,” Barry went to reach for Len’s hand but stopped, fearing he would move it away, rejecting him again, “at least you didn’t let Mick try to melt the ice.  I don’t think that would have been a good idea.”

“No, I doubt it,” Len said, reaching his hand up to take Barry’s, running the pad of his thumb over Barry’s knuckles.  Barry squeezed Len’s hand, “So tell me about the secondary system.  They didn’t repair the alarm correctly.”

“They didn’t repair it period,” Len said, “it was still cut from the last time I cut it and that was months ago.  They have a collection worth around 45 million dollars, more or less depending on the seasonal exhibits, and they don’t fix their security system; there is no excuse for that.”

“Maybe they didn’t know it was down?  You are quite the smart criminal, you know?”

“Scarlet, a full system check of the alarm system, which you are supposed to do after every robbery, would have pinpointed where the system failed in a matter of minutes.  It was pure laziness on their part!”  Len continued on as they ate commenting on the other weaknesses at the Hamilton, Barry felt like he should have been taking notes.  Instead, he dug into his food with relish, speed eating without realizing it, but man he was hungry and the food was so good.  The food was mostly eaten within thirty minutes, there were three pizzas, four orders of wings and two large containers of seafood fried rice left.  Barry had the table and kitchen cleaned with the dishwasher started and trash taken out before Len could finish getting up from the table.

“I am very sorry about tonight,” Barry said standing by the couch, “I know you don’t want to talk about it yet, but I just really want you to know that.  I am very upset with how you were treated especially.”

Len crossed the room in three strides, an impressive feat, and kissed him, wrapping his arms tightly around him.  Len broke the kiss long enough to say, “Make it up to me,” before devouring Barry’s mouth, his tongue claiming every millimeter of Barry’s mouth as his own.  Barry ran his tongue tentatively against his, not challenging his claim but welcoming his domination.  Len moved his hands down to Barry’s ass, pulling him even closer, their jean-clad cocks pressing against each other.  Barry was already hard and felt Len’s answering hardness against his own.  Barry started to unbutton Len’s jeans when he broke the kiss. “Let me rim you tonight,” Len asked, “open you up so pretty with my tongue, then my fingers until you are just begging for my cock.”

“I am always begging for your cock,” Barry admitted, blushing bright red, “it’s a fucking work of art.”  Ok, the pun was not intended but he did make Len crack a small smile.

“Cum on Scarlet,” Len said (using the tone of his voice to let Barry know he meant cum instead of come), “let me taste you.”

Len loved using his mouth during sex, and god, the things that man could do with his tongue.  Barry secretly loved when Len would tongue fuck his ass, but Barry was also very self-conscious.  He had this terrible fear that he would do something during sex that would drive Len away, and Barry needed the comfort Len gave him.  He only slept straight through the night if Len was curled up with him on the bed, who was big spoon or little spoon didn’t matter.

Len distracted Barry from his internal debate by slipping his hand down the back of Barry’s pants and underwear, sliding it between Barry’s cheeks and lightly teased Barry’s tight opening.  Len teased that it was always virgin tight, another good thing about fucking a speedster.  Barry gently leaned into the teasing touch.

“Len,” Barry moaned, his fear bled through, even though he didn’t mean to.

“Don’t be afraid,” Len said, “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

“You are so sexy, like out of a romance novel,” Barry said, “and I am the total opposite.  I am going to screw up.”

“You cannot screw up sex, Barry,” Len said.  They have had this discussion before, and Len was aware that Barry was absolutely terrified of accidentally farting in Len’s face while he was tongue-fucking him.  Barry was aware it sounded stupid, he was just super insecure about sex and had thought of all the possible things that could go wrong.  Len never laughed at him or made fun of him.  He instead was patient and kind, in his own way.

“Let me go to the bathroom,” Barry said, as Len removed his hands from his pants.  Barry smiled nervously as he headed toward the bedroom, the master bedroom had an ensuite.  He used the toilet before jumping in the shower, he wanted to make sure he was clean for Len.  “Let me,” Len stepped into the shower and grabbed the washcloth from Barry’s hands.  Instead of using Barry’s body wash, Len grabbed his own and made a rich lather before he carefully washed Barry’s body, before focusing on his rapidly hardening cock, his free hand going down to cup of balls, rolling them around extra gently.  Barry moaned and Len nipped the side of Barry’s neck, sucking the area he had bitten hard.  Barry’s balls were so sensitive, he went crazy with desire just having them played with and when Len sucked them… god, Barry could cum just from Len doing that.  The mouth on that man was heaven.   Len kept massaging Barry’s balls while he shifted so he would wash Barry’s ass, carefully teasing him.  When he was satisfied that he was clean, Len grabbed the body wash again and putting a small squeeze of the gel in his hand, he wrapped it around Barry’s cock loosely and started to move up and down, his thumb moving to tease the head of Barry’s cock every few strokes.  Barry whined and tried to move his hips, but Len whispered in his ear, “No, bad boy.  You just let daddy take care of you, get you all nice and relaxed before I have my wicked way with your ass.”

Barry moaned, “Fuck.”

“That’s the idea,” Len teased as he tightened his grip just a fraction, Barry knew that Len had internal timer ticking off in his head when to tighten his grip and move faster, so Barry forced himself to relax, leaning against Len’s front, his cock pressed against his ass as he gave himself over to Len.  Speeding up slowly, tightening his grip even slower, it was too much, not enough but oh so fucking good. It felt like a million years, although it was probably just a few minutes, when Len finally asked, “Does my boy want to cum?”

“Please,” Barry whimpered, “please daddy.”

“The sounds you make,” Len groaned, “fuck me, it’s good.”

Len’s hand tightened and the pace was rougher, Barry moaned, rubbing his ass into Len’s cock.  “Please… Len…”

“Cum.  Now,” he ordered quietly into Barry’s ear, it was just enough to tip him over the edge.  He came crying Len’s name as Len just held him, making him feel warm and safe, enjoying the feeling of coming down from his orgasm slowly.  Thank god, Barry decided to let Len talk him into the on-demand hot water heater for the condo because Len just held him a few minutes after he came and the water stayed nice and warm.

As soon as Len decided Barry could stand on his own two feet without the risk of falling over, Barry did tend to turn into a wet noodle after an orgasm, Len rinsed Barry off throughly. He grabbed one of those ridiculous big, fluffy towels that Len had brought over as a housewarming gift, and dried Barry off.   As soon as he was satisfied that Barry was dry he told Barry to go lay on his stomach on the bed.

Barry did as he was told, trying not to get all up in his head about the next part, which is probably why Len got him off in the shower.  Len loved playing with his no refractory period and had gotten him off five times in one more just to see if he could.  Barry started to doze, his cock still hard but not as demanding as earlier.  He heard Len open up the drawer and take out the lube and the condom before running a finger down Barry’s spine.  “I thought you were going to sleep on me.”

“No,” Barry said, “just feel really good, daddy.”

There was a soft chuckle, “I am glad.”  Barry’s daddy kink was a huge source of embarrassment for him, it came out by accident during one of their first nights at the condo.  Barry had been shunned by his last lover when he called him daddy in bed, but Len loved it.  Barry remembered with a smile that Len had gotten even harder inside of him, throbbing when Barry called him daddy and almost came there and then.  It was one of those things that Barry was not allowed to talk about with Len, but it had become an almost regular part of their sex lives, especially after either one of them had a bad day.

Len sat on the edge of the bed, “Look, Barry, if you don’t want to…”

Barry sighed, the bit of vulnerability in Len’s voice gave him the strength to overcome his fear, at least for now, as he reached behind with both hands and spread his cheeks, giving his daddy a beautiful view of his tight hole.  “Please daddy, my hole aches without you to fill it.  Kiss and make it better.”

Len groaned and leaned down to place a light kiss to his ass, then opened his mouth and ran the flat part of his tongue up and down, giving him slow wet licks that drove Barry crazy before teasing him with the tip of his tongue, pressing just with enough tease but not push inside.  “Oh god,” Barry mewed and Len laughed softly before just putting the very tip of his tongue inside him, thrusting it back and forth before lavishing more licks to the outside.  Barry would have loved to return the favor, but Len had a very strict rule, it was one of the few things they actually talked about before having sex and that was Barry wasn’t allowed to touch his hole.  The outside of his cheeks, yes, but not the crack and nothing lower than his balls.  Barry never questioned him, never offered to talk about it, he respected Len’s wishes and almost wished he had the chance to kill Lewis Snart himself.  Barry couldn’t shake the feeling that vile excuse of a man had something to do with Len’s repulsion of being touched there.

“You taste so good, my boy,” Len said, “my favorite treat.”

“I love smelling like you,” Barry could still smell the coolness of the peppermint and musk body wash.  Len paused a moment and Barry thought he might have made a mistake, but he before he could turn his head and apologize Len admitted, “So do I,” before thrusting his tongue all the way inside of Barry, who cried out at the suddenly hot, slick invasion. “Oh fuck yes,” Barry cried out, his hips moving upward toward Len’s face as he thrust his tongue in and out of him.  A wet finger joined his tongue after countless moments pressing against his prostate with precision that could only belong to Leonard Snart and then his tongue was gone, replaced by a second finger curling inside of him, his tongue giving small kitten licks to the outside of his hole. “Daddy, please…”

“Please what sweet boy?”

“I need your cock.”

“Be patient.”

“No, I can’t.”

Len smacked Barry on the ass lightly a half dozen times, “You are being a bad boy.”

“I don’t want to be bad,” Barry said, “I just need you.”

“You that needy for this cock?” Len asked, shifting so he could drag his length along Barry’s crack and Barry let out the most wanton moan Len had ever heard, “Yes.”

Len slid in a third finger and made quick work of stretching Barry, he reached for the condom and fingers were still covered in lube.  Normally they had a towel or something by the bed, but it had been forgotten in the heat of the moment.  “Let me?” Barry asked softly and he shifted, taking the condom from Len’s fingers and open the packet.  He waited until Len nodded, swallowing hard as Barry carefully put the condom on before applying a liberal amount of lube, enjoying the feel of Len’s cock in his hand. “Stop,” Len ordered, “do you want me to cum in your ass or in your hand?” The telltale growl in his voice would have inspired fear in others, but Barry knew that growl actually mean that Len was desperately trying not to cum.

Barry leaned up and kissed Len quickly before getting on his hands and knees. Len took a few deep breaths, calm and measured before Barry felt the thick tip of his cock start to enter him. God Len’s cock was so thick, it was glorious and put most of the porn stars that made Barry blush in high school and college to shame. Len grabbed his hips to ground himself as he slowly slid inside, letting Barry feel every fucking inch of his cock as it entered him until he finally bottomed out.  Barry whined and tried to push back on Len’s cock to get him even deeper.  “So needy,” Len said breathlessly, “so gloriously fucking needy.  You like being filled by your daddy’s cock, don’t you?”

“So much,” Barry nodded his head and felt Len place a kiss between his shoulder blades, before slowly pulling out and thrusting hard back inside.  Oh, god.  Len tried to keep a slow, but hard pace normally but he didn’t last long tonight.  He was fucking him fast and hard, grinding the head of his cock against Barry prostate making him see stars.  His cock leaking precum at a furious rate.  Barry reached around to stroke his own cock, he wasn’t going to last much longer at this rate.  He expected Len to bat his hand away, but instead, he interlocked his fingers with Barry’s so they worked his cock together.  It was so shockingly intimate that it took Barry’s breath away.  He quickly tumbled over the edge, covering his stomach and the bedspread with ribbons of cum while tightening hard around Len’s cock.  He thrust in once, twice, three, four times more before crying out, cumming hard deep inside of Barry.  Barry half wondered what it would feel like to have Len cum in him without the condom on but put that thought away quickly.  Barry’s legs turned to wet noodles again, and if it hadn’t been for the hold Len had on his hips, he would have sunk down to lay right in the damn wet spot.  Instead Len shifted them carefully to lay on their side, still connected and a good five inches away from the wet spot.  He felt Len’s cock start to soften inside of him and Barry tightened around him to try to keep him inside.  Len rewarded Barry’s efforts nipping, kissing and lavishing wet licks on his neck, but eventually, Len did slip out causing Barry to whimper at the loss.  “It’s ok, Scarlet,” Len whispered into his ear, “all good things must cum to an end.”

Len removed the condom and tied a knot at the end before getting up and heading back to the bathroom.  He came back with a warm washcloth and cleaned Barry up gently, knowing how sensitive he was and how more sensitive he became after every subsequent orgasm.   When he finished he wiped up the wet spot to make it easier to clean in the morning.  He tossed the washcloth into the sink and grabbed his sleeping pants from the hook on the back of the bathroom door putting them on before he did a walkthrough of the condo.  Checking every window, making sure the oven was off before checking the deadbolt one last time, then setting the security system to “Stay”.  It was Len’s nightly routine and he couldn’t sleep well without doing it.  Barry dozed, unable to rest until Len came to bed.  He could feel Len draw back the covers, and shift Barry until he was laying between the sheets, Len curled up beside him, holding him close.  “Go to sleep, Barry,” Len whispered in his ear and like all commands, Len gives him in the bedroom he instantly obeys, Barry is out like a light.

 

Barry woke up before the alarm, he was hungry and had to go to the bathroom.  He flexed his ass and enjoyed the pleasantly sore feeling left over from last night’s activities.  He carefully slid out of bed, knowing he had only a few minutes before Len started to wake up and put on his sleep pants.  Barry turned off the alarm and went into the bathroom, they could have slept in since Barry was on second shift, but they really needed to talk.  He had a feeling that this was not going to go well, so after he washed his hands and brushed his teeth he went into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.  He made Len’s favorite, silver dollar pancakes with mini chocolate chips, dark maple syrup and homemade whip cream on the top.  He cooked the bacon and sausage in the oven to spare the headache of cleaning the cooktop.  He started a pot of coffee and was surprised when Len still wasn’t up.  He checked on him and was surprised to find Len still asleep in bed.  So he poured him a cup of coffee, Len drank it black, got him a glass of orange juice and made them a breakfast in bed tray.  He sat the tray on the dresser before carefully so not to spill, then flipped the overhead like dimmer switch to dark, turned on the light and slowly raised the dimmer to 2/3 of the way up.  Len muttered in his sleep but did not wake up. Waking up Len when he was this deep asleep would cause him to panic and lash out as if he was being attacked, Len warned him about that as well.  Barry grabbed his cell phone and put on some annoying rap video on YouTube, and raised the volume slowly until Len woke up.  It didn’t take long, “Turn that shit off,” Len groaned.

“You know what they say about kids and their music,” Barry teased turning off the music, “Good morning, sleeping beauty, time for breakfast?”

Len sat up slowly, rolled over and looked at the clock, looking almost surprised that it as 7:30AM.  “Why are you up so early?”

“Hungry,” Barry said as he raised the dimmer switch to full, “what else is new?  Thought you might have worked up an appetite yourself last night.”

“One thing I never have to worry about is you not feeding me,” Len smirked as he stretched out his arms and back as Barry brought the tray over.  He tensed as soon as he saw the pancakes, as if he knew something bad was coming.  Dammit Barry should have just made regular sized pancakes.  Len did grab his coffee and juice and start to eat.  They ate in total silence, which was odd for them. Len offered to clean up the kitchen while Barry went to take a shower, which Barry gladly accepted, and when he was finished Len jumped in the shower.  Len used the guest bathroom.  That was not good.

Barry sat at the dining room table, dressed in a dark gray long sleeve shirt and blue jeans, his feet bare.  Len on the other hand had a navy sweater and black jeans and wore thick black socks, his overnight bag was already packed and sitting by his boots.  Barry’s stomach dropped, Len was prepared for a quick getaway.  “I hope the conversation doesn’t go that bad,” Barry said as he gestured with his chin to the overnight bag.

“You are the one that made the silver dollar pancakes,” Len said, his face a neutral mask as he sat down across from Barry.  At least he refilled his coffee cup, that calmed Barry’s nerves.

“They aren’t going to tell Joe and I was able to convince them that we weren’t dating, after ten minutes of heated debate about the subject.  I was ready to tear my hair out, Cisco demanded I call you up there and then and dump you,” Barry said, Len’s jaw tightened slightly, “Please don’t kill him, your sister loves him and they think that they are protecting me from whatever diabolitical plan you are plotting.”

“What happens when Snow and West realize Cisco is dating Lisa?” Len asked, “will they give him the same treatment?  Cisco isn’t as strong as you are and if he breaks her heart, I swear to God…”

“Caitlin and Iris already know he is dating Lisa!” Barry interrupted, “it appears that Lisa took Caitlin and Iris out for a girls night a while ago to patch things up.”

Len blinked twice, obviously this is the first he had heard of this as well.  “What?  Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I just found out last night,” Barry said, “they are all friends now, all past wrongs forgiven.”

“So they are ok with Cisco dating Lisa?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are they giving you grief for spending time with me?”

Barry took a sip of his coffee, holding the mug in both hands, “It’s unreasonable and you aren’t going to like it.”

Len leaned back in the chair, arms crossed, “Let me have it.”

“She apologized and you haven’t.”

“You are fucking with me,” Len’s voice dropped.

“No, I am not.”

“What because Lisa apologized, she suddenly isn’t the Golden Gilder anymore, a Rogue, thief, and criminal?  She hasn’t changed, she is still my sister, who you stopped from robbing the Hamilton three days ago!  With me,” Len’s left shoulder twitched.

“I know, it’s totally unreasonable,” Barry said, “and I told them that.  Maybe it’s because they know Lisa better, I don’t know.”

“It’s like being back in high school.  No wonder I dropped out.”

“I like Lisa, Len,” Barry said, “your sister is an amazing woman and a worthy adversary for the Flash.  I wouldn’t want to change her and I definitely don’t want to change you.”

“So Cisco wanted you to dump me, what happened next?”

“They jumped to the conclusion we were sleeping together, which I didn’t confirm.”

“But you probably blushed,” Len groaned, “dead give away.  Continue.”

Barry chose to skip the sex questions part, “They guessed we have been… whatever… for seven months because I am on time, eating properly and not looking for someone to date.  Iris told me… and this is a silver dollar pancake part…”

“This is it?!” Len raised an eyebrow, a flicker of alarm went through his eyes.

“She understood my attraction to you, and that we are not dating,” Barry paused to take another sip of coffee.

“Go on,” Len said, his eyes narrowing.

“And that she, Cisco and Caitlin would support our… whatever this is if we went out on a real date.”

“And what if we don’t?”

“The insanity continues.”

“No, this isn’t worth silver dollar pancakes, what did she actually say, Barry?”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“Tell me.”

Barry took another sip of coffee and sighed.  “You aren’t going to like it.”

“No shit,” Len said, “but I need to know.”

“That our connection was purely physical and if we went on a real date that wasn’t work related that I would get to really experience your personality and that I would want to end things on my own, but if I didn’t then they would support us.”

“What do they think we do?  Just fuck?” Len relaxed slightly, a smirk on his face, “fuck and talk about hero/villain stuff?  This is high school.”

“I know,” Barry said, feeling so much better.  This went a lot better than he thought that it would, “Iris even told me to get some self-respect and not sleep with you again until you took me out on a proper date.”

Len froze, his eyes flashed ice cold rage and suddenly he was up on his feet, chair knocked to the floor with a loud bang, “She said what? How dare she say something like that to you? I would have thought her above slut shaming.”

“It’s not slut shaming,” Barry said, “it wasn’t meant like that.”

“Sounds like it to me,” Len said, “they have no right to talk to you like that, they are supposed to be your friends.”

“They are,” Barry said, “They just want me to… do you think I am a slut?”

“Excuse me?”

“For sleeping with you without properly dating you,” Barry said, as soon as he said it Barry realized he was in dangerous territory.  Len completely closed down, “And this is why I don’t do relationships,” he said before he turned on his heels, grabbed his boots and overnight bag, unlocked the deadbolt and was gone, slamming the door behind him so hard that a picture hung near the door fell to the floor, glass cracking.

Barry just sat there a few moments, not really believing what just happened.  Tears welled up in his eyes, waiting and hoping that in the few minutes Len would come back.  He didn’t.  Barry sat there and waited for almost an hour before he got up, locked and deadbolted the door.  He dumped his coffee in the sink, then dumped the pot, the machine already turned itself off ignoring his slightly trembling hands.  He put both the mug and pot into the dish washer and started it.  He dumped the grounds and filter into the trash before turning off the light and going into the bedroom.  He made the bed, tears slipping from his eyes.  He sat on the bed and grabbed the pillow that Len used last night and held it tightly, sobbing into it.  He knew this was going to happen, that Len was going to leave him.  As soon as he saw Cisco last night, Barry knew it was over.  Did Len just see him as a slut?  No, of course not.  What possessed Barry to ask him that?  Why did he let Iris get into his head like that?  Couldn’t he just keep his damn big mouth shut?

He wanted to call Len, apologize, and beg him to come back but he didn’t have the words to fix this.  Instead he just cried until he ran out of tears, washed his face, brushed his teeth and headed into work early.  He was sure there would be a mound of paperwork on his desk to do and it would distract him from this disaster.

Len was angry, but to be honest, he was angry a lot but normally he could channel his anger into something productive.  Anger for him was not a boiling rage, hot and out of control like one of Mick’s fires; it was cold, ridged and logical.  The Cold persona that he created was those qualities magnified to an absurd degree, for dramatic effect.  For him, revenge was always carefully planned instead of an emotional mess, petty and childish.  Although he would be lying if a touch of pettiness wasn’t tempting right about now.

He knew this day would come, this went on a lot longer than he thought that it would have.  When Len originally started flirting with Barry, it was to throw him off his game.  He was so easy to get flustered, especially as Len increased the sexuality of the flirting.  It was fun to see him squirm, even more fun when he started flirting back. Puns, jokes, random awkward sexual innuendos; Len couldn’t remember when he last had so much fun with someone.  Barry wasn’t hard on the eyes either so it wasn’t difficult to do.  He toned it down when Barry was engaged to Iris because it felt somehow wrong to flirt with an engaged man.  Then the engagement ended, badly about eighteen months ago.  Iris woke up and decided she really didn’t love Barry, she was in love with how Barry loved her. Len didn’t know until a few months ago, how twisted their romantic relationship actually was.  She loved him one minute, couldn’t stand him the next, blaming him for Eddie’s death and wished him dead, then told him he did everything he could.  There were strict conditions on her romantic love, requirements that were nearly impossible to meet.  No wonder with a just the hint of kindness, Barry fell into bed with Len.

Barry was sitting at Saints and Sinners, fixing the credit card machine for Delilah again, Len went over to flirt with him, he was bored and wanted some entertainment but Barry seemed off.  It bothered Len to see the normally happy, positive speedster seem so out of characteristically pensive.  All Len did was ask him if he was ok, touching his shoulder gently and the next thing he knew he was in the dingy, dirty men’s room, with Scarlet wrapped around him, kissing him as if Len was breathing for them both.  Thank god, the bathroom was one of those one toilet bathrooms where you could lock the door, left over from when this place was actually an upscale bistro back in the day. Normally not his scene for a quickie, but Barry’s lips on his, hips grinding hard into Len’s, feeling Barry’s rock-hard cock against his rapidly hardening one caused his brain to temporarily short circuit.  To be fair, Len hadn’t had sex since before becoming Cold and god, Scarlet felt so good.

So their first time was up against a dirty wall, Len had his pants around his ankles, and using a probably out of date condom and lube packet from the condom vending machine.  And their first time was Barry’s first time; Len hadn’t been expecting that.  Guilt nibbled at him as he watched Barry leave with a slight limp, although he knew it would be a matter of minutes before his super healing would take care of that.  He decided he would make it up to Barry, so he faked a solo heist so he could lure Barry back to one of his smaller safe houses that had a California king with navy silk sheets and Len helped Barry to find where he liked to be touched, what made him feel good and how he could cum untouched on Len’s thick cock.  The speedster came seven times that night and Len got to play with his vibrating abilities.  He got addicted that night to Barry, that Barry loved to give pleasure as much as receive it.  He wanted to know how Len prefer to have his cock sucked and what positions were his favorite.

Yeah, Len was in trouble right from the start.  So they fell in bed together.  A lot.  It was good, better than good, the best sex Leonard Snart had ever had and he had his fair share of partners.

Every time Len swore it would be the last, but that got old quick so he stopped at the end of the second week.  Then he convinced the idiot to get rid of his shitty one room apartment about a month into this (he happened upon two of Santini’s goons when he broke into Barry’s apartment to wait for him to get back from patrol, those enforcers wanted to intimidate the CCPDs favorite CSI so Len put them on ice) and when Barry almost moved into an equally terrible studio apartment; Len gave him strict guidelines for his new place.  Why the fuck didn’t Team Flash or his damn foster-father cop lay down the law or go apartment hunting with him?

Why was it the only person that seemed to care about Barry was just the guy using him for sex?

He made it perfectly clear to Barry that second night that all he wanted was sex, no dating, no relationship and no commitments. Definitely, no strings attached. Was it no wonder that Barry asked him if Len thought he was a slut?

“You hold that bottle any tighter it is going to break,” Lisa said as she walked over to him.  Len’s vision came back into focus and he forced his fingers to loosen their death grip on the now warm beer bottle.  He was at his favorite safe house, he was supposed to have quiet to plan the Rogues next job, but that ended when Lisa came to visit him to show off her new necklace.  Len scowled at it, the situation he was in was all that damn necklaces fault and he would leave Axel Walker out in the cold with this next heist if he didn’t need him to get Cisco back for this.  Lisa decided to try to rouse Len out of his bad mood by having a huge Rogue family dinner, why she thought that would help him was beyond him?  Ok, normally the Rogues trying to all cook, socialize and watch TV together could be amusing, but it wasn’t enough to get him out of his thoughts.  Mick tried plying him with beer but that wasn’t working.  Len didn’t want to get drunk, he wanted… wanted…

Fuck, Len wanted Barry.

“Your phone keeps going off,” Lisa said, sitting down on the couch next to his charcoal gray lazy-boy chair.

“I don’t answer my phone when I am planning.”

“You aren’t planning, you are brooding,” she sighed, “and when you are brooding it normally has to do with the Flash.  Are you still unhappy about that Hamilton job?  We did get away with some of the nicer pieces.”

“Just not the ones I wanted,” Len said, “Hamilton is getting sloppy, but the rent-a-cops are too trigger happy over at Central City Museum.”  The only reason Shawna and Axel didn’t get shot the last time he tried to rob it was that Flash saved them. “Derek Jennings from Jennings Jewelers is due to get from the tour his South African mine next week, maybe we should check out what he has brought back with him this time.”

“Sounds like fun,” she grinned.

“I thought you would approve, I know how you like diamonds,” the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, looking at the necklace.

“Not bad for being legally purchased.  I have to watch for Axel though, he keeps staring at it with this baffled look on his face.”

‘I bet he does,’ Len groaned internally but said out loud, “I will have Hartley get an updated security plan of Jennings Jewelers, just to make sure the old man hasn’t changed anything since the last time we paid him a visit.  I think you, Mick and I can do this one, I will ask Hartley and Axel to provide a distraction.”

“You might not want to leave Mark out of this one,” Lisa said, “he is getting annoyed at being left out.”

“He almost killed two security guards, armed with tasers and old enough to be his grandfather,” Len said, “if he cannot get his temper under control then he isn’t going to be included.”

Len looked over at Mark, who was leaning against the kitchen counter talking to Axel, while he was cooking something that smelled amazing.  He had a small smile on his face, it widened slightly when Hartley came over to join them.  Both Hartley and Mark laughed while Axel was talking, it was strange to see Mark almost relaxed.  “Fine,” Len said, “he can go with Axel and Hartley.”

Lisa looked behind her and smiled, “There is something going on there.”

“Something I don’t want to know about,” Len said, sitting his beer down on the end table, “I will have everything ready next week.”

“Ok, so does that mean you will stop brooding and join us.  Even Mick is watching the Diamonds game with Roy and Shawna,” she said as Len’s phone went off again, “And check your phone for godsake.  It’s buzzing right off the table.”

Len picked it up and looked at it. Ten messages and two voicemails.  He had been avoiding checking his messages because he didn’t want to see the ones from Barry, or from Chuck Tang technically.  He put Barry’s name into one of those porn name generators and that is the name that was given.  He didn’t trust that Mick or Lisa wouldn’t figure out what codename he would have come up for Scarlet.  And none of the messages were from Barry.  He left him almost 12 hours ago, he expected something by now.  Even if it was just a ‘fuck you’; he did storm out and Barry did wear his heart on his sleeve.  He responded to the messages quickly, none were important.  Most of them were from Lisa anyway.

He smirked watching Lisa checking her phone with every reply he sent her.  She glared at him, which only made him smirk more.  He shifted in his seat, instead of looking out the window, he faced the TV.  Baseball wasn’t his favorite sport, but he did have some hometown pride so watching a Diamonds game wasn’t total torture.  Roy and Shawna were huge Diamonds fans and it was even more entertaining to watch them watch the game than actually watching the game.  Mark and Hartley joined them a few minutes later, leaving Axel in the kitchen by himself.  He would be concerned if he didn’t already know that Axel missed his calling as one of those fancy gourmet chefs.  “The coq au vin will be ready in an hour,” Axel said, “does anyone have a preference for homemade garlic bread or biscuits?”

“What is he making?” Mick asked.

“Chicken stew,” Hartley said, “Axel is trying to be fancy.”

“No, I am making coq au vin,” Axel said, “it’s totally different than chicken stew, you heathen!”

“Heathen, am I? You want to sleep on the couch tonight?” Hartley asked with a huff.

“I will sleep on the bed, thank you very much.  In my apartment,” Axel said.

“That’s enough,” Mark said, “stop picking on Hart, Axel.”

Oh yeah, Axel was sleeping in his own bed tonight.  Alone.  Don’t feel bad Mark and Hartley, he won’t be the only one.  “Make whatever you want,” Len said, “I am sure it will be delicious.”

“Thanks, boss,” Axel said, then more clattering in the kitchen.

He could feel Mark’s glare, but he ignored him.  The Rogues treated Hartley with kid gloves, defending him and enabling some of his poorer behavior; expecting the worst from Axel.  The real difference between Axel and Hartley was that Axel was a survivor, he suffered silently where Hartley suffered as loudly as possible.  He actually liked Axel more than Hartley, normally.  Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

 

Dinner was amazing, Axel made both garlic bread and biscuits.  Len was pretty sure he made the biscuits for Mark because he stuffed his face full of biscuit as soon as they touched the table.  He even had chipmunk cheeks at one point.  Hartley laughed and Axel smiled slightly.  His phone went off during the meal, but Lisa threatened him with her butter knife if he answered it at the dinner table.  After dinner was finished, Len had forgotten about the call and insisted that the Rogues clean up the kitchen because Axel had pretty cooked the entire meal by himself.  Axel already had the left-over dishes organized, each Rogue got some to take him but the majority of it was in Len’s fridge.  He always was worried that Len didn’t eat enough, especially when he was planning a heist.  His kitchen had been more bare than usual, but that was because he didn’t eat most of his meals here anymore.  He would have to go grocery shopping tomorrow, god he hated to go grocery shopping.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, Lisa put on a movie, some heist-thriller he didn’t know the name of, and the Rogues curled up to watch TV.  Axel still kept his distance from Mark and Hartley, even though they did leave room for him on the couch next to them.  He chose to sit on the floor on the bean bag chair that magically appeared wherever he was.  He probably had a bean bag chair at every safehouse just in case, but Len could never find his hiding place.  Len’s phone went off again toward the end of the movie, it was entertaining with its explosions but the plot was awful.  He snuck his phone out of his pocket and it was a message from Barry.  He didn’t read the message, not in front of the Rogues.  Len stood up and Lisa paused the movie, “Where are you going?”

“The ending is obvious and I need to take this.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“I bet you my cut of the next heist, the Austrian jerk off is the police informant, the person that hired them to rob the casino is the casino owner himself.”

“Are you serious?” Mark asked.

“Totally serious.  Who wants in this bet? Your cut of the next heist is the buy-in.”

All got in, except Mick and Axel.  “Ok, Mick and Axel, keep them honest, please.  I have to make a phone call,” Len said as he went back to his office, he heard the movie turn back on, the Rogues talking about what they were going to do with their share of Len’s cut.  After shutting the door, Len looked at his phone.  He had a voicemail message from Barry and a text.  He read the text first, as it was the latest message: Sorry about VM.  Hope you aren’t even more upset with me. :(

Len took a deep breath and played the voicemail and was expecting the worst, but what he got was a crying Barry. “I am so, so sorry, Len. Please forgive me.  I don’t know what to say right now and I know you probably don’t want to talk to me.  I can’t blame you.  I totally screwed up.  I know you don’t think I am a slut, and I don’t want this to be over.  Please tell me this isn’t over.  Look, all we have to do is go on one official date thing, just one and then Cisco, Caitlin and Iris will be off our backs and everything will go back to normal.  I know you don’t date, I know this is asking a lot of you, I just want them off our backs.  I have gotten about 50 messages between them about this today, but if you don’t want to that is fine. I will deal with them… just as long as this isn’t over.  Please, Len. Please. I miss you.”

Len replayed the message twice more, trying to come up with a reply, but he didn’t know what to say.  Barry deserved something, especially if his supposed friends were hounding him.  This entire situation had him tied up in knots, and he hated it.  He should just cut and run.

No, he couldn’t do that to Barry.

Scarlet deserved better.

Len replied to Barry with a text, not ready to call him yet: Not upset with you. Need to think. Need space.

Barry replied within a minute: Is this over?

Len sighed: I didn’t say that.  Cool your heels. Need space.

Barry replied: Oh, thank god, you punned.  Feel a million times better. Ready to talk when you are.  Take your time.

Len barked out a laugh, he didn’t even realize he punned but he was glad that Barry felt better.  Only his Scarlet could take him punning as reassurance. He felt better than he had since he stormed out of the condo, now he needed to focus on the next heist.  He walked out of the office and headed back to the living area.  The tv was off and it was dead silent. Axel covered his mouth and tried not to laugh when he saw Len enter the room.  “So how did it end?” Len asked, leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed, a smirk in place and Axel burst out laughing.  Mick just smirked.

“I hate you,” Mark said.

“You had to have seen it before,” Roy said.

“How did you figure out the Austrian guy was the snitch?” Shawna asked.

“That was easy,” Len said, “look at how and when he joined the crew.  And no, Roy, I hadn’t seen it before.”

“I still hate you,” Mark said.

“Sore loser,” Len said, “fine, I will be merciful to you.  I will only take a 1/3 of your next cut; I hope you learned your lesson.”

“If Cold here offers up his share of anything,” Mick said, “then he is 100% sure he is right and don’t be stupid and disagree.  Especially with your money on the line.”

“Exactly,” Len said as he saw the Rogues pack up, Axel went into the kitchen and handed out everyone’s leftovers.  Len noticed that Axel did give Mark extra biscuits, which he promptly pocketed.  “Axel, I need to talk to you a minute before you head out.”

Axel looked down and nodded as if he had been expecting this.  He headed back into the kitchen, probably to put on a pot of coffee if he knew the kid.  He nodded at the grunts and goodbyes he got when everyone started to file out.  Mark and Hartley seemed to linger by the front door, even after Lisa and Mick had left.  “Something wrong?” Len asked.

“Waiting for Axel,” Hartley said, “we live close by and drove together.”

“Axel’s place is in Keystone,” Len said, “you have been staying at the safehouse next to the park, totally opposite direction.”

Hartley dared a quick glance at Mark but before Mark could completely lose his temper Len said, “I will make sure he gets home ok.  This might take a while.  Oh, and by the way, I don’t care what the Rogues get up to in their spare time or who they chose to spend their time with as long as it doesn’t impact the team.  If you both really care about Axel then stop belittling him in front of everyone and threatening him with being banished to the couch.  He isn’t stupid and he takes great pride in his cooking, even more than his bombs and pranks.  Treat him better, he deserves it.”

Hartley bit his lower lip and Mark actually looked down a moment before ushering Hartley out the door.  Len made sure to lock it behind him, in case Mark decided to come back in and start some shit.  He doubted it but Mark was very unpredictable.  Len went back into the kitchen, and as predicted Axel was watching the coffee pot brew.  “They only act like that in front of the others,” Axel said, “but thanks, Cold.”

“If it hurts you it isn’t right,” Len said, “period.  I am glad to see you stand up for yourself.”

Axel nodded before he took a deep breath and turned to face him, “Look, I swear, I didn’t know that necklace was for Lisa and I won’t tell anyone, not even Hart, that they are seeing each other socially.”

“Thank you, I know I can count on your discretion.  That isn’t why I wanted to talk to you,” Len said, “I actually need to cash in a favor.”

“Sure,” Axel said as the coffee finished and Axel poured himself a cup, putting in chocolate milk instead of sugar and cream, “need someone to do your grocery shopping?  Because seriously…”

“No… well yes, but that’s not the favor I need.  Cisco was a bit of a shit when he got the necklace back and I would like to teach him to mind his manners. Now it cannot hurt him too badly, I don’t want to upset Lisa.”

“I can do that,” Axel smirked as he took a sip of his coffee, “hmm… an Italian roast.  I didn’t recognize the name of the roaster, but this is amazing.”

“A gift from a friend who was out of town,” Len said as he poured himself a cup, he drank his coffee black.

“Your friend has good taste,” Axel said, “how about I keep an eye on Cisco for a bit?  The best way, I have found, to make someone behave is to have something to hold over them.”

“Good idea, keep me up to date and keep this between us,” Len took a sip of coffee, he almost forgot how good this was, “oh and Axel.  Just some friendly advice.”

“Yeah,” Axel said, looking a bit surprised.

“I know it won’t be pleasant, but go back to your apartment tonight. Alone.  And don’t stay over at Hartley’s until you get a sincere apology, you aren’t some plaything, you are a person and a valuable member of the Rogues. I don’t know what your relationship with either Hartley or Mark is, but if you all decide to be open with the Rogues, I will make sure no one has a problem with it.”

Axel looked down and took a few sips of his coffee, his eyes were suspiciously wet.  After a few seconds, he nodded, “Thanks, Cold.  You always look out for me and I appreciate it.”

“I get gourmet meals with leftovers in return,” he said with a smirk, “it’s a fair trade.”

“Hartley thought coq au vin was chicken stew.”

“You are right he is a heathen.”

“He also microwaves his oatmeal.”

“How are you in love with him?”

“Maybe I am a sucker for lost causes?”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t give himself food poisoning before he apologizing to you.  We need him to get those security details and blueprints for us.”

“I better get going, I am free tomorrow so if you need someone to do your shopping for you let me know.  You can give me a list or I can come up with something and leave you the recipes.”

“I can take care of it, but thanks.”

Axel smiled a true smile, not the pretend-everything-is-ok-when-it’s-not smile or the Trickster, Jr. maniacal grin.  He finished his coffee and went to wash the cup, but Len just told him to leave it in the sink.  He gave Axel the keys to the getaway van parked up the street to get him home and walked him to the door.  When Axel left the apartment was really quiet.  Len turned the pot of coffee off and refilled his cup, before going to sit back in his lazy-boy.  He thought about turning the tv on and hacking into Detective West’s Netflix account but changed his mind.  He stood up and put on the first Ella Fitzgerald songbook vinyl he could find and played that instead.  Letting the soothing sound of Ella’s voice calm his nerves.  This would be the first night in a long time he would be sleeping alone.

And this would be the first time in his entire life he would actually hate it.

 

It was three days and Barry hadn’t heard from Len, but he promised to give him some space.  They were ok.  He knew Len was planning a heist and he normally pulled away when he was getting everything ready for the Rogues.  He normally still slept at Barry’s, at least an hour or two, but it was ok.  Barry slept worth shit the past four nights, but that was worth dealing with if Len didn’t call things off.  Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris were still up his ass about Len and seemed satisfied that Len had been out of touch.  Like they had been right all along, which they weren’t.  Barry had decided to take the night off tonight to do some chores and try to get some sleep.  He got off work around seven, stopped at Mr. Lams for about 10 orders of pork and snow peas and the three orders biggest egg rolls in Central City. He got back to his condo around 8PM, and after he entered, turned off the security system, locked the door and deadbolt. Barry toed off his shoes and putting his keys in the red ceramic dish on top of the table by the door.  He toed off his shoes and placed it under the table by the door when he noticed a black pair of boots already under the table.

Len was here.

Or someone stole his favorite pair of boots and was going to die a really icy death.

Barry placed his shoes next to Len’s and checked the security system log, the last person to set the alarm was at 5:04PM.  Len had been here for three hours.  He looked around and found Len asleep on the arm-chaise part of their L shaped couch.  It seems that Barry wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping.  Barry carefully picked up the blanket that hung over the back of the couch and very gently laid it on top of Len, not wanting to disturb him.  He went into the kitchen and got two plates and two sets of silverware in case Len woke up and was hungry.  He set the table and started to plate the food when he heard movement from the couch.  Len stood up and stretched, “Scarlet, what time did you get home?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Barry said with a small smile, “didn’t have time to go to the store so I got some pork and snow peas.  Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” Len said, which was Snart-speak for he was starving.

“How many egg rolls do you want?”

“Two,” he said as he folded up the blanket and put it back before coming to the table.  Barry gave him three and filled his plate with food.  He flashed into the kitchen to grab two bottles of sparkling water before walking them back out.  He learned the hard way, flashing with a bottle of sparkling water or any carbonated drink will cause it to explode all over you when you open it.  He put on down next to Len then opened his own, sitting down to take his seat.  “Did you know that next Thursday, Wilson, the grumpy old man security guard at Central City Museum, is having his 70th birthday.”

“Really?”

“He has been there for 50 years,” Barry said, “he once told the Flash he feels like he saw you grow up and you are still as big of a pain in the ass as you were when you were in your late teens.”

“He says ‘fuck it, not you guys again’ every time we break in.  He doesn’t even bother sticking around, he just goes right back into the security office and locks the door.  He actually asked me the last time we visited if we steal 100 times from the museum if we get a free get-a-away.”

“He is having a birthday party Wednesday night,” Barry said.

“Want us to crash it?” Len smirked.

“He might actually get a kick out of that,” Barry laughed, “but just a heads up in case you had plans for Wednesday, it’s going to be rather heavily staffed.”

“Warning me about security changes?  How un-heroic of you.”

“I don’t want to have to stop the Rogues while rushing old people having heart attacks to the hospital at the same time!”

“I cannot believe Wilson is 70.  God, I feel old.”

“They are trying to pressure him to retire, but he knows that will leave Simpson in charge.”

“Oh god, not Simpson,” Len rolled his eyes, “he reminds me too much of Clyde Mardon.  He’d shoot up the place as much as call the police.”

“He has the hots for Peek-A-Boo but you didn’t hear that from me,” he said.

Len rolled his eyes, “I will warn her.”

Barry’s heart soared, it was like nothing had changed and for the first time since Len stormed out, Barry felt like he could relax.  They ate sharing stories about Wilson and some of Len’s earlier capers.  They ate all of the food, Len was hungry, he ate two helpings of the pork.  Barry had enough to eat, he would stop and get take out for lunch tomorrow.  “There is an Italian Sausage, Onion and Peppers sandwich made on homemade garlic break in the fridge,” Len said, “it’s huge, Axel made it for me because he was afraid I wasn’t eating enough.  You can take that for lunch tomorrow since I bought it for dinner tonight, but you know I cannot turn down freshly made egg rolls.”

Barry flashed through cleaning up and taking out the trash, but not as fast as he normally did.  He sat back at the table and smiled.  “You look exhausted,” Len said quietly.

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” Barry said honestly.

“Has your team let up on you yet?”

“Not really,” Barry said, scratching the back of his neck, “how have you been?”

“Ok, it’s been quiet.” Then there was silence for a few minutes before Len finally said, “I don’t date.”

“I know.”

“I also don’t like going out,” Len continued, “I can count on one hand places that I go to that isn’t a safehouse.  I have to watch the exits at all times, check for threats and I absolutely hate crowds.  I will not enter a club, concert or sports arena.  The only exception is the Keystone Combines arena, I know that place like the back of my hand, but it’s the offseason.”

“I didn’t know you liked hockey,” Barry said.

“You didn’t notice me obsessively checking my phone during hockey season?”

“I just thought you were planning a heist or plotting something.”

“I plot?”

“Well you are the leader of Central City’s group of elite supervillains so yeah, by default you do have to plot things, it’s part of the job description.”

That made Len laugh and shake his head.  “Barry, how do you know that they will actually stop harassing you about this if we go on a date?”

“Iris doesn’t promise things lightly and she can keep Cisco and Caitlin in line.  I think they are a little terrified of her, to be honest.”

Len muttered something that sounded like ‘it’s not her that they should be scared of’ and Barry smiled.  He wanted to reach for Len’s hand but he wasn’t sure how Len would take that yet.  “If we would do this dating thing, Len, you can tell me what you are interested in doing and what is an oh-hell-no and I will plan it.”

“You plan it?” Len raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I have been spending time with a master planner, I have picked up a few of his techniques.  When would you like to do this?”

“You get off at 5PM on Tuesday so let’s do this then, that should give you enough time to plan. The stereotypical date is dinner and a movie,” Len said, “I don’t mind AMC theatre at the Galleria.”

“What would you like to see?”

“The Dark looked interesting.”

“The one about the London cop going to Wales to try to solve a 50-year-old murder?  That did look fascinating,” Barry took out his phone and looked up movie times, “there is a 6:55 on Tuesday.  Does that work for you?”

Len took out his phone and nodded, “Yes, 6:55 is fine.  Be a late dinner, but I have nothing to do the next day.”

“Do you want to do dinner before?”

“Nah, that will be too early.”

“Could do the 9:25 showing?”

“Late either way,” Len said, “let's do the 6:55 and go to dinner afterward.”

“Movie is 115 minutes long.”

“Really?” Len looked surprised.

“Any preferences for dinner?”

“Nope, as long as I can get meat I don’t care.  No vegan or vegetarian restaurants.”

“I would not dare get in the way of Cold and his meat.  Ok that didn’t sound right,” Barry turned bright scarlet and Len barked out a surprised laugh.

“Scarlet, once again you have earned your nickname,” Len said, “go on, I know you want to tell them.  They don’t need proof on this date, do they?  We shouldn’t expect a chaperone?”

“Nope,” Barry said, as he typed into the group chat he couldn’t get himself out of when he left they put him right back in regardless of his settings, that he had a date with Len on Tuesday night, two nights from tonight.  Barry was excited, although he tried not to show it.  He got to plan the date, he really wanted to impress Len.  He wanted to go to dinner where they could walk by the park, it was well lit and very pretty at night.  He wanted to see Len’s face lit up by the fairy lights.  Barry didn’t have to wait long for Iris, Caitlin or Cisco to respond.  They were all totally shocked.  He handed his phone to Len so he could read their comments, he snickered before handing the phone back.  “Don’t give them too many details,” Len said, “they may try to mess with our date.”

“They would never do that,” Barry said firmly, “they are my friends, and they think they are protecting me by doing this stupid shit but they would never actively try to hurt me.  They know how important you are to me and when they get to know you, they will see how amazing you actually are.”

“Scarlet,” Len’s tone a clear warning, “I don’t want them to like me.  While I am ok with the occasional team up, when the situation is mutually beneficial, I am still a Rogue through and through and I don’t plan to change.  I love what I do and I am very good at it.”

Barry blinked twice then tears welled up in his eyes, “That isn’t what I meant.  Oh god, Len, I swear.  I wouldn’t change you for the world, I would never ask you to switch sides or stop being Cold.  It’s just that Lisa hasn’t changed one bit as far as I can tell and they like her and her and Cisco together.  I meant that they should be able to do the same thing with you.  You are an amazing man and… and… You are going to leave again, oh god, please don’t leave me again.”

Barry felt like he couldn’t breathe, he was terrified, exhausted and at the end of his rope.  He wasn’t sure he could survive Len walking out of him again when he just got him back and almost everything worked out.  Tears streamed from his eyes as he trembled, he felt himself being pulled up and moved, a soft voice crooning in his ear and a suddenly comfortable warmth.

“That’s it, Scarlet, come back to me, everything is ok.  I am not going anywhere.  I am right here,” Len said, his arms around Barry, cuddled under the thick fleece blanket.  Barry snuggled against him as the sobbing slowly ceased, his breath returning to normal.  “Can you stay tonight?” Barry whispered against Len’s neck.

“For a few hours,” Len said, his arms tightening around him just a bit.

“Would you laugh at me if I said I had trouble sleeping without you?  I am sure you slept like a baby,” Barry said, “you are so much stronger than I am.”

Lips brushed his temple so lightly Barry wasn’t even sure it wasn’t his imagination.  “Let's watch an episode of Pendrake Manor and see what stupid shit those landed gentry idiots get up to this time.”

“You just like to oogle the butler’s ass,” Barry said.

“Like you don’t,” Len scoffed.

“Point, but I like yours better.”

Barry woke up, not on the couch where he fell asleep but warm and snug in his bed, his body wrapped firmly around Len’s.  He isn’t sure what time it is but it is still dark outside.   Len was trying to gently untangle their limbs and Barry forced himself to roll over.  He looked at the clock, it was 3:30am.  Len did say he wasn’t able to spend the entire night, but that is ok.  Len stayed longer than he expected.  Len got up and went into the bathroom, the master bath this time.  Barry could hear the shower running so he turned over, into Len’s warm spot and snuggled with his pillow.  He dozed as Len finished his shower, got dressed and came back out of the bathroom.  He felt Len’s long, expressive fingers running through his hair knowing that would send him right back to the land of nod, “Go back to sleep, Scarlet, you have another two hours before your alarm goes off.”

“Mmmmm… k….”

 

Barry was practically bouncing with happiness when he entered the CCPD but soon found himself swamped with work and unable to focus on planning his date night with Len.  He wasn’t able to stop and breathe until lunch, where he did eat that amazing sandwich that Axel made.  He might be tempted to let the Rogues get away scot-free more often if they would bribe him with Axel’s cooking.  He even sent Len a quick message to that effect, who responded the rolling eyes emoji.  Len was bound to find that sooner or later.  The group chat of Iris, Caitlin, and Cisco was suspiciously quiet now that Len had agreed to go on the date.  Barry was glad that shut them up, the needling had been getting old.  He flashed into the Cortex around 7:05PM, Iris promised to bring him dinner so he didn’t have to worry about it.  As soon as he sat down a huge plate of food in front of him, some sort of pulled pork, barbeque casserole that looked like a failed attempt at a Pinterest recipe (and it probably was) but it tasted good.  The frozen garlic bread that she made in the oven normally would have been his favorite but Axel ruined it for him.

“So, you and Cold have a real date on Tuesday?” Iris said, far too innocently.

“Yes.”

“Not to the Central City Museum, is it?” Cisco asked, the distaste obvious in his voice.

“No,” Barry said coldly, hurt by Cisco’s insinuation, “and no, it’s not to the Hamilton, Mason-Greer or Sinclair Institute either.  We won’t even be stopping by any banks on the way there.”

Caitlin jumped in, “Of course not!  Cisco behave.”

“I am just worried,” Cisco said.

“It’s a simple, run of the mill movie and dinner date night.  Nothing exciting and what do you have against Cold?  How can you all forgive Lisa but not Len?”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Cisco asked his voice up an octave.

“They are both Rogues, they both have done terrible things in general and to us…”

“Lisa didn’t have Mick tie Caitlin to a chair with a bomb underneath it and give Dante frostbite to force me to give up your identity.”

“If Lisa had been in town, she probably would have helped with Caitlin’s kidnapping just like she helped with Dante.  Do you believe that she didn’t know that her brother was going to do that?  If someone like Leonard Snart wanted you dead, you would be dead, but he let you and Dante go after he got what he wanted.  He didn’t have to let you live.  Is it not totally fucked up, of course, it’s totally fucked up.  Ferris Air was totally fucked up, but in the end, I am glad that happened.  Shipping them off like that without a trial was wrong, and we all know it.   Just remember this, Leonard Snart, the man you seem to hate so much raised Lisa, he took care of her, protected her from that monster of a father that they had and made sure that she was all right.  He went without so she didn’t have to because he loves her.”

The entire room went quiet when Barry finished, he wanted to get up and walk away but he knew he had to eat before going on patrol tonight.  He looked down and focused on his food, speed eating through it.  Iris filled his plate three times when he finally slowed down.  He would have to wait 15 minutes before he could put on the costume and get out there and away from this.  “You are totally right,” Caitlin said, “we know Lisa, but we don’t know Snart.  Maybe if we gave him a chance, we would see in him what you see, you have always been able to see the good in him, the potential, and we never have.”

“He did keep Lisa safe,” Cisco nodded, “as best he could.  She does love him very much, I guess I should give him a chance.  I just don’t trust him, he will have to earn that.”

“I agree with Cisco and Caitlin,” Iris said, “but we will try if it means that much to you.”

“Thank you.”

“So… what movie are you going to go see?”

“The Dark.”

“I haven’t heard of that one.”

“It’s a British film, a murder mystery starring John Hannah, trying to solve a 50-year-old cold case in Wales.  Looks amazing.  Going to see the film, a short walk then dinner.  The weather is supposed to be great on Tuesday night so fingers crossed.”

“Any ideas about dinner?”

“Not sure, need to do some research.  You guys aren’t going to want to chaperone this, are you?”

“No,” Iris said, “we will take your word for it.  As I said, if you have a great time then we will totally support your relationship with Cold, with Len, but I still truly believe when you really spend time with him that isn’t as Captain Cold and the Flash or going at it like rabbits, you will see what Cisco, Caitlin and I see in him and will break it off.”

“I look forward to proving you wrong, Iris,” Barry said.

 

Barry got home from patrol at 1:30AM.  He technically got off at midnight, but he stopped by Saints and Sinners because he had a text from Deliah complaining that the credit card machine was acting up.  He got free fries and a tip about an upcoming gun sale the Russians were organizing with some local drug dealers for his trouble.  The Russians had all but been pushed out by the Koreans and the Irish about a year ago but it looks like they wanted to make a dramatic and very bloody return.  Barry made sure that information got into the right hands immediately and put it on the Flash’s schedule to be close by in case shit hit the fan.

By the time he crawled into bed he was exhausted, he checked the alarm system and his phone, no sign of Len but that was ok.  Hopefully, he would stay over tomorrow, this was the longest time they have gone without sex and damn if Barry’s ass didn’t ache for Len’s cock.  He fell into bed and enjoyed a dreamless sleep.

 

Len looked up at the ceiling, he couldn’t sleep knowing that Barry wasn’t safely in his condo yet.  His phone beeped to let him know that the alarm had been disarmed.  Fucking hell, Barry it was 1:30AM!  He waited patiently for Barry to set the alarm to stay, but ten minutes later he hadn’t so Len did from his phone.  Barry was probably dead on his feet.  There was a sudden burning urge to get up, get dressed and check to make sure he set the deadbolt.  And while he was there fuck Barry through the mattress.  God, this was the longest they have gone without sex with Barry and it scared him, not that Len would ever admit to that.  The majority of their time together centered on sex and if Barry decided the sex wasn’t worth the bull shit that accompanied Len…

Then again he was planning a date night for them to get his damn noisy team off their backs so they can go back to their normal.

Stop worrying, Len told himself, but his mind wouldn’t shut off. He wouldn’t be comfortable until his balls were slapping Scarlet’s ass as he was fucking him.  God, it had been too long. Len reached down to cup his hardening cock.  Giving into this would make his mind shut up, maybe even put him to sleep, although he would have preferred to save his cum for Barry.  He lifted his hips and pushed down his sleeping pants to mid-thigh, grabbed a long-neglected bottle of lube from the nightstand and squirted some in his hand before stroking himself.  His other hand ventured down to play with his balls.  God, Barry loved to tongue, kiss and very gently suck his balls while stroking Len’s cock.  He massaged them, pretending it was Barry, attentive as always as he tightened his hold on his cock, twisting just slightly toward the base, god that was good.  He kept going, up and down his cock, twisting, his grip just a bit tighter toward the base every other stroke. Imagining Barry pressed up against the wall, holding on him as he fucked him nice and slow and deep.  Len bit his lower lip to keep from moaning.  Precum was leaking from his tip, Len teased the slit and arched his back slightly; only Barry could get him this wet this fast. His Scarlet.  Len sped up his strokes, he imagined how tight Barry was, those delicious choked moans he made when he was close to cumming.  How tight he held him, as if Leonard Snart was indeed his entire world, how he would kiss his neck and beg him for more.

Len thrust up into his hands as he came, cum shooting two ribbons on his stomach the rest just pouring out of the slit.  Oh god, he needed that as he laid there a moment catching his breath, imaging Barry curling up around him, holding him close as Len grabbed some tissues from the nightstands and cleaned up.  His mind was blissfully empty as he pulled his pants back up, and drifted off to sleep.

 

Barry thought of everything that could go wrong tonight as he fixed breakfast.  He already took a half day off work to make sure that he couldn’t be kept late.  Again.  He told Joe was tired and needed an evening to himself, which Joe seemed to buy amazingly.  Then again, he has been distracted lately by the new assistant coroner with the sexy Irish accent.  Thank god they hired Croft Maddox!  It got Joe off his back and distracted him from Barry condo shopping with Len and just gave him more Len time in general.  Not that he ever skipped family dinners or the monthly family movie night!

OK, so the half day off was taken.  Weather checked, no storm systems within a hundred mile radius, reservations made at that new American Bistro on the other side of the park.  The confirmation email was printed out and in his wallet.  He even thought about buying the movie tickets ahead of time, but the 6:55 show still showed as Seats Available, 90% of the theatre seats were shown in green so he decided to save the online booking fee.  $5. Seriously?

He went into work early, actually got out at noon so he could go home and get ready.  He tried on every single pants shirt combination he had, knowing he didn’t dare ask Iris this time.  He settled on a scarlet buttondown shirt, dark blue jeans and light brown faux leather jacket Caitlin got him for his birthday with scarlet and white tennis shoes.  He jumped in the shower and actually used a unscented body wash so he could use that fancy cologne and aftershave Joe got him for Christmas.  He liked the way it smelled, fresh and earthy, and was very careful about how much he used.  He texted Len to check that they were meeting at the theatre at 6:45, which Len promptly confirmed.  Everything was set to go.  It was 5:30 by that time so Barry went into the kitchen to make himself a snack so he didn’t speed eat at dinner, or eat the entire bucket of popcorn at the theatre.  He already placed two calorie bars into the inside pockets of his jacket just in case.  Barry opened up the fridge and warmed up the leftover Chinese food from last night (Two orders of Beef Fried Rice, Three Seafood Lo Meins and an order of Crabmeat Wontons).  He also wore a plastic poncho when he ate so nothing got on his clothes.  He put on an episode of Miss Marple that had John Hannah on it, he actually was a police officer in that episode which made Barry laugh, to help kill the time.  He checked the movie theatre again, it was 6:20PM and still, 90% of the seats were in green so he decided to save the $5 in fees and just buy them at the theatre.  He brushed and flossed his teeth (poncho still on) before cleaning up the kitchen and taking out the trash.  He took the poncho off, checked his hair and used the bathroom before he got ready to go.  Making sure to put on his tennis shoes last, unlocking the door and deadbolt before setting the alarm to away, then opening the door, grabbing his keys and phone before closing the door behind him, locking the lock and deadbolt before exiting Flashing away to the theatre.  It was only 6:35, but if he knew Len (and he did) the man would have gotten there early.

Len was there by the time he arrived 30 seconds later.  God, he looked amazing.  It wasn’t fair, Barry needed to take a half day off to look good and Len just fell out of bed looking like that.  He wore a tight charcoal gray t-shirt under a dark navy, almost black pea coat with equally dark blue jeans and his black boots.  He caught Barry staring at him and rolled his eyes, Barry just blushed as he headed over to him.  “You look amazing,” Barry said.

“Thank you,” Len smirked as if to say he already knew that.

Barry caught a whiff of his cologne and was surprised, Len never wore cologne.  It made Barry feel better that he put some effort into this date night after all and he smiled.  He liked the scent, it smelled like the woods in the middle of winter, cool and crisp.  The perfect combination of Leonard Snart and Captain Cold, it was very sexy.  “So everything is arranged,” Barry smiled brightly, “reservations at Pearl’s American Bistro at 9:15, we don’t have to worry about parking because it’s within walking distance, just through the park.”

“And get mugged.”

“The Festival of Lights is this week, the Park is lit up with lights from dusk to dawn.”

“Pearl is supposed to be rather on the expensive side.”

Barry leaned up slowly to whisper in Len’s ear, “I am hoping if I buy you a nice steak dinner, you will let me blow you when I get home as my dessert.”

Len made a little whimper noise in the back of his throat. “That can be arranged,” Len said, “let's get this date over with so we can appease your friends and go home.  We are never going this long without sex again.”

“Nope,” Barry wholeheartedly agreed, the blush deepening with his confession of, “my ass is so empty is aches.”

Len closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “Barry, I am trying here.”

“I know,” he said as Len started toward the ticket counter.  It was quiet tonight, probably because it was a Tuesday.  Barry smiled at the bored looking employee at the ticket box, “Two for the 6:55 showing of The Dark.”

“Of course,” the man said and blinked twice.  He tapped a few buttons on the touchscreen and looked confused.

“Everything ok?” Barry asked.

“I am sorry, sir,” the man said, “It appears the show is sold out.”

“How is that possible?” Barry blinked twice, “I just checked the availability of the tickets at 6:20 on your website and there as 90% ticket availability.  That was 15 minutes ago!”

“I am sorry, Sir,” the man said, “the rest of the tickets were bought by Seymore Prep Drama Club ten minutes ago.”

“There are two hundred seats in that theatre.”

“It’s actually in theatre 7 that only has 125 seats.”

“You are telling me,” Len said, “a drama club bought 113 seats at $7.50 a seat?  That’s $847.50.”

“I can only tell you what the screen says, Sir, I am sorry,” the man said, getting a little short with them.  “Is there anything else you want to see?”

Barry looked up at the board, luckily no one was behind them.  Most the films were blood and guts horror films or children movies.  The rom-com was terrible, he had already seen it with Caitlin.  The buddy cop comedy looked ridiculous.  “Len?”

“I cannot believe you didn’t buy the tickets ahead of time,” Len said as he crossed his arms, looking unamused.

“There were plenty of tickets available at 6:20, I didn’t want to have to pay the $5 fee if I didn’t have to.”

“Seriously?  All this for a $5 fee?” Len looked at Barry out of the corner of his eye, very unimpressed.  Barry winced, feeling like a complete cheapskate.

“Gentleman?” the annoyed ticket man asked.

Len walked away and Barry followed him to the end of the crowd ropes and they stared at the movie marquee.  “The only movie that will get us to our dinner reservation on time is the Lego Avengers, House of Blood or R.S.V.P.”

“I saw R.S.V.P. with Caitlin and it was terrible.  I wanted to reach through and throttle the stereotypical gay wedding planner.”

“Would you see me going to a rom-com?” Len asked drily.

“Not without Lisa bullying you into it,” Barry admitted.

“House of Blood might be interesting.”

“You cannot seriously want to watch a gore and blood fest before going to dinner,” Barry asked, shocked.  Horror movies were ok, but he liked Psychological Thrillers, blood and gore was definitely not his thing.

“Have a weak stomach, Barry?  Then again you did hide your eyes when we watched Bloody Mary.”

“I don’t like blood and gore for blood and gore’s sake all right!”

“Well, I am not going to a kids movie!” Len snapped at him, “and this wouldn’t have happened if you would have just bought the tickets in advance.”

“Yeah, but then we would be in a theatre with preppy school brats that would probably talk through the entire film and ruin it for us anyway!”

“At least we would have something to do for 2 hours!”

Barry looked around, desperately trying to come up with something but he knew Len hated crowds.  “Mason-Greer Gallery is 5 blocks north,” Barry said.

Len glared at him and growled, “You have got to be kidding me, Barry.”

“I am not asking you for work reasons,” Barry said, “I just know you are very knowledgeable about art and art history from our brief discussions at the Museum.  I bet you can pick out every art forgery in the place.”

“Maybe,” Len smirked, “I may have placed a few there over the years.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Barry teased.

“Sadly, every security guard and every employee knows me on sight,” Len sighed.

“Maybe we will have to go after hours,” Barry said, “have a private tour.”

“Breaking and entering, Scarlet?” Len smirk deepened, highly amused, “now that sounds like a date I may just enjoy.”

“Look, it’s supposed to be a beautiful night.  Why don't we just go for a walk in the park?  Enjoy the lights and just chat.  I haven’t really seen you in five days and would like to know how you have been, save for work stuff of course.”

Len shook his head, he wasn’t much for small talk, but he gestured to the exit with his chin and they walked outside.  It was busy, which made both Len and Barry uncomfortable.  He didn’t like big crowds either, Barry leaned into Len, and Len brushed Barry’s hand with his fingers as if he was toying with the idea of taking his hand, but he never did.  They crossed the street and over to the park.  The twinkling lights were beautiful, in all shapes, sizes, and colors.  “The icicle lights are my favorite,” Barry said, smiling up at the trees, “I love the blue-gray against the trees.”

“Meh,” Len said, but Barry caught him taking in the scene with a softer expression.  It was a beautiful night, just a tad chilly and the skies were totally clear.

“Moon looks beautiful.”

“Supposed to be a Super Moon next week,” Len said, “Hartley and Axel are placing bets whether it messes with earth’s electromagnetic field.”

“Are those two together yet?” Barry asked.

“Not sure, don’t care.”

“Liar,” Barry said because when it came to the Rogues he cared about every single one of them; if he would admit it or not.

“As long as Axel keeps making me gourmet dinners, I don’t care what he gets up to in the bedroom with Hartley and Mark.”

“Whoa, what?  Mark is in the picture?  I thought he and Shawna…”

“She and Roy bonded over their love of Diamonds baseball.  When Hernandez hit a home run last week they screamed “Yes” and “come on” like they were orgasming together.  It was uncomfortable for everyone else in the room.”

“I bet,” Barry giggled but then sobered up, “Mark can be a bit harsh though, and has a very touchy temper.  Is he going to be good for Axel?”

“You care about your villain’s happiness?”

Barry rolled his eyes, “But it’s Axel; he has been through enough already.  Trickster is a huge pain in the ass with the gift bomb bull shit he has made his signature move, but Axel Walker seems like a rather cool and interesting guy.”

“Keep this up, I am going to think you are getting a soft spot for the Rogues.”

“Well, their leader is a very sexy, smart and sophisticated man.  He wouldn’t surround himself with anything less than the best.”

Len bumped Barry’s shoulder playfully, “Axel and Hartley seem to calm Mark a bit.  I am keeping an eye on the situation.”

Before Barry could respond, a loud crack came from overhead.  He tapped into the speed force, prepared to get Len to safety in a nanosecond but could not see what made the sound.  Then what was a cloudless sky a moment ago, clouded over and rain began to pour from the sky.  What?  Barry blinked twice, there was no rain in the forecast.  He grabbed Len and ran under the nearest tree to keep them from getting soaked, putting him down immediately.  “What the hell?  Barry.”

Then he saw what Barry had seen in slow motion coming toward them, torrential rains.  They were still getting wet under the tree but the at least had some protection.  “It wasn’t supposed to rain,” Len said.

“I know, not a storm system in a hundred miles of here when I checked before I left.”

“And I checked before I left as well,” Len said, his expression darkening, a growl-type sound in the back of his throat.

“And you took your bike, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Len said, “just peachy.”

Barry looked around for shelter and saw a small gazebo about a hundred yards away, Barry pointed to it, “Do you think we should try?”

“Better than staying here,” Len said.  Barry grabbed ahold of him and flashed over to the gazebo.  The roof was leaking slightly but offered much better protection than the tree.  The winds started to pick up and the trees swayed.  “You don’t think this is Mark, do you?” Barry asked.

“No, he knows to send us alerts when he is impacting weather for more than a block,” Len said as he took out his phone and shook his head, “nope, and I know he isn’t nearby.”

The wet and the cold caused Barry to shiver a little, Len growled again, they were wet but luckily not completely soaked.  Barry could run them back to the condo but with this amount of rain, they were going to get soaked regardless of his super speed.  It was safer just to wait it out here in the gazebo, now that they weren’t being rained on the rain and lights looked pretty.  Little rainbows were popping up all over the place.  “The Festival of Lights is my favorite time of year,” Barry said, “maybe when the rain dies down we can walk over to Jitters and get a cup of coffee to warm up.”

“Maybe not a bad idea,” Len said, slipping an arm between Barry’s jacket and shirt, pulling him closer, “but this is ok for now.”

Barry turned to look at Len, “The view is pretty awesome.”

Len snorted, but his hand gripping Barry’s hip squeezed just a bit tighter.  They stood there in silence, just enjoying the sound of the rain with no one in sight.  Barry wasn’t sure how long, Len probably knew down to the second they stood there, but the wind started to pick up.  Frighteningly so.  The rain died down a few minutes before Barry asked, “Want to try to make it to Jitters?”

“No, the moment we step out of here it will start to rain again,” Len said as if he knew it for certain.  Maybe be picked up metrological knowledge from working with Mardon so Barry didn’t question him.

“I don’t like this,” Barry said as the trees swayed, smaller branches breaking off and leaves flying in the wind.

“It’s ok,” Len said, “it will stop soon.”

“Are you sure it’s not Mark?” Barry asked, “Maybe he has lost his temper again?  Or forgot to text?”

“So if it’s a weird weather event it has to be Mark Mardon?” Len snapped at him, “of course just go and blame the Rogues.  It’s not like Mark could be the only possible weather meta out there.  How many speedsters are currently running around Central?”

“God, I hope there isn’t another meta with Mark’s powers,” Barry said, “that is too much power for one person to have.  Mark may have a temper, but at least he has the Rogues to help him cope and give him structure.  Central City may not get lucky with the next weather meta.”

“It’s not Mark!” Len pulled away and turned to glare at Barry.

“Fine,” Barry threw up his hands, “it’s not Mark.”

The weather shifted again and suddenly it started to horizontal rain, thanks to the crazy wind.  The little gazebo did not provide enough cover for it and they were drenched in seconds.  “Don’t. Say. It,” Len said.

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Barry saw a bigger gazebo about 200 yards away and it looked empty, “Want to try it?”

“It’s better than staying here!” Len growled and suddenly, Barry flashed them there.  Standing in the middle where the rain could not get them.  Barry moved away slightly from Len, ran his hands down his face to remove the water and pushed his hair out of his face.  He looked like a drowned rat and nearly felt like one. The wind died down, the rain fell vertically again but pouring as ever.  “Maybe we will have time to head to the condo before dinner to get dry?”

“If we go to the condo we won’t be leaving,” Len said, “I would say end this damn date now if I didn’t know a nice steak dinner was waiting for me.”

“It has been a clusterfuck so far hasn’t it?” Barry rarely cussed but this occasion called for it, “and I am sorry, I shouldn’t automatically have blamed Mark.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Len said, “but I shouldn’t have snapped at you either.  Let’s call it even.”

“Oh my god, will you two shut up?”

Barry and Len turned to see a young man, maybe late teens / early 20s, under the built-in benches with a girl around his age, his hands up her shirt.    “What the hell are you thinking?” Barry asked, “first, it’s public and second, the weather is dangerous.”

“Shuddup,” the man said, “we are fine under here.  Now leave you two perverts.”

“No one is leaving,” Len said, “until the weather lets up.  Go back to what you are doing and we’ll go back to pretending you don’t exist.”

“You are ruining the mood!”

“So are you,” Barry snapped back at him, before turning back around, keeping his back to the young couple.  Len followed suit, his arms crossed again, his right pointer finger tapping against his upper arm.  Barry looked down and realized he was doing the same damn thing, damn he was picking up some of Len’s habits.  He forced himself to stop the tapping.  They just stared out at the rain, it showed absolutely no sign of letting up anytime soon.  “6th Ave is probably going to flood if this keeps up,” Barry said quietly so only Len would hear.

“The Hamilton is going to have a flood in their basement,” Len said.

“It’s run by a bunch of cheapskates, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” Len said.

“Maybe Cold and the Rogues are doing the art world a favor by liberating pieces of priceless art from their douchebaggery?”

Len laughed at that one, his finger stopped tapping and he sighed, “Only you would look at it like that, but if that line of thinking stops the Flash from interrupting the heists...”

“Don’t count on that,” Barry gently bumped his shoulder against Len’s, who just smirked back at him.

There was a growl from under the benches behind them, “Goddammit!  Shut the fuck up!”

“No, you shut up,” Barry snapped at the asshole, “your date isn’t the only one being ruined.   And this is what you get for fooling around in a public place!  In the middle of a weather event.”

There was a shifting noise, Barry turned to see the guy come out, his pants open but thankfully nothing hanging out, red-faced and ready for a fight.  The woman stayed hidden under the bench, “Sean, don’t!”

Sean wasn’t the only one spoiling for a fight.  Len looked like he wanted to knock Sean’s block off with a single punch.  Oh no, this was not going to turn into a fistfight.  “No,” Barry said, “let's not do this.”

Len and Sean circled each other one time, eyeing the other one up, like two alphas preparing to protect their territory.  Then when Len got back to Barry, he stopped, “You are right, not worth it.”

“That’s what I thought old man,” Sean spit at them then preened for the woman he was with.

Barry was about to rip him a new one for daring to call Len old, but Len grabbed Barry by the wrist and dragged him toward the exit, but instead of walking out into the rain unprotected, Len took out one of those compact umbrellas and opened it up, providing protection from the cold rain.  Where the hell did he get that… oh.

They walked a few yards away before Barry said, “I totally sanction that theft.  Serves them right.”

Len took out a wallet and looked at the ID, “And Mr. Johnson will be buying dinner tonight.”

“Len…”

“He left the umbrella and his coat, with his wallet it in, on top of the benches to make cover for the naughty things he was doing.  It’s the only way for that kid to learn.  Asshole was practically begging to get robbed.  He is all brawn and no brain.”

Barry wanted to argue, he really did, but he didn’t want to get into another fight with Len and just maybe the guy deserved it.  A little bit.  They walked around, looking for another dry place to go and ended up deciding to try the local Jitters, but it was already packed with people hiding from the rain.  Len stayed outside while Barry fought through the crowd to get them two coffees, Barry ordered a Flash for himself and a Café Mocha with two shots of Peppermint for Len.  Barry made it back outside in 20 minutes, luckily not spilling either drink but it was a near thing.  People were hot, cranky and just plain rude.  Len was waiting outside, glaring at his phone, when Barry found him.  “What’s wrong?”

“Not sure,” Len said, “something is wrong with my phone.  It’s not letting me send texts, I am getting them but not able to send them.”

“Tried restarting the phone?”

“Barry, I am old but not completely technologically inept.”

“You aren’t old,” Barry took over holding the umbrella from Len and gave him his coffee in return, “you are in the height of your prime and that asshole is lucky you had mercy on him or else he would be dealing with a broken face tonight.”

Len didn’t say anything, he took a careful sip of his drink and stared at his phone another moment before he put it back in his pocket.  “Let’s find somewhere else to go.  Too many people.”

“And they are all rude to,” Barry said.

Len gently took Barry’s elbow and guided him back to the park, they still had thirty minutes to kill, they were still damp but not sopping wet anymore.  Hopefully, they would be drier before they had to sit in the restaurant.  “Let’s go back to the original gazebo,” Len said, as they found the smaller gazebo with the leak in the roof blissfully empty.  Barry made sure to check under the benches before he would relax. No, they were totally alone.  Thank god.

“I am surprised the lights are still on,” Len said sipping his coffee, looking at the still twinkling lights on the trees.

“Yeah, me to,” Barry said, “I guess whoever hung them knew what they were doing.”

“Yeah,” Len sighed.

Barry smiled slightly and turned to Len, “Len, why don’t we just go back to the condo? Get a nice hot shower, get into some warm, comfy clothes and get some delivery from the Italian place on the corner?”

“Because we need to do the real date thing to get your team off our backs,” Len said.

Barry sighed, “They aren’t going to know that we skipped the dinner part, anyway, we will be having dinner.  Just at home.”

“They will know,” Len said, “and they will be ten times worse than they are now or make us do the date thing again.  I just want to get this over with and you promised me a steak dinner.”

“I didn’t know you had a weakness for steak.  Remind me to get some new recipes for us to try next week.”  Len grunted his approval as he took another sip of his coffee.

“We can still make it back to…”

“We will be mostly dry by the time we get to Pearl,” Len said as he ran his fingers through Barry’s hair to make it look decent; Barry learned into the touch and sighed.

They stood there, drinking their coffee, neither feeling too much like small talk.  This evenings adventures making them tired and looking forward to a nice dinner.  They wandered toward the restaurant, neither felt in a hurry as the rain kept most of the other people away and their umbrella protected them.  Len even took Barry’s hand as they enjoyed the lights around them.  They threw their cups away and made it to the restaurant with a few minutes to spare, thanks to Len’s internal clock.  Barry would have been oddly content to just wander around the park with him all night.

Barry smiled as he approached the hostess, a woman wearing black dress slacks, white button-down shirt, and a black blazer.  Barry panicked, he looked at the website and it said casual wear.  He looked around the room and saw some people dressed up but also saw others dressed more casually than they were.  Whew.  “Hello, a reservation for 2 under Allen,” Barry said.

“Of course,” the woman looked at the tablet and pressed a few buttons, “did you call to schedule the reservation or go online?”

“Online,” Barry said, “I kept getting a busy signal when I called yesterday.”

“I see, I apologize we have been having some issues with our phones the last forty-eight hours.  And our software.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Do you have your reservation confirmation printed out?”

“Oh no,” Len groaned as Barry pulled out his wallet and took out the folded piece of paper, put his wallet away and unfolded it before handing it to the woman.

“Thank you,” she said as she typed something into the program, “yes, this is one of our confirmation numbers.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Barry asked.

“Let me guess,” Len said, “you lost our reservation.”

“Not exactly,” she smiled slightly, “our software went a bit haywire and we are overbooked.  Some reservations are real, like yours, and others were randomly generated by the software.  We tried to contact everyone to find if they were real or not, but even though it shows your number and email on the confirmation sheet, we didn’t get that information in our system so we assumed you were one of the computer-generated ones.”

“I would like to speak to your manager,” Len said coldly, his Cold persona peeking out around the edges; Barry was near tears.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, his perfect date turned into a complete clusterfuck and Len was probably going to turn around and leave.  Barry would be sleeping alone again tonight.  This couldn’t be happening, he tried to think of everything.

The manager arrived, a balding man in his early 50s wearing a black suit.  The hostess briefly explained what happened and showed the man the confirmation and he sighed, “I am so sorry, gentlemen.  I wish there was something we can do, the restaurant is full and we have nowhere to seat you.”

“Can you give us something?” Barry asked, “we are hungry, tired and damp from being caught in the rain earlier.”

“All I can do is reschedule your reservation and offer you 35% off your next meal,” the manager did actually look as if he felt guilty, which didn’t make Barry or Len feel better.

“Let’s go,” Len growled, “before something else happens.”

“Len?” Barry asked.

“Now,” Len turned on his heels and stalked out the door, looking totally murderous.

“I am sorry,” Barry said, “bad date night, everything that could have gone wrong did.”

The manager nodded, he grabbed a pen from the hostess station and wrote something on the reservation before handing it back to Barry.  “You have nothing to apologize for, Mr. Allen, I apologize again, Sir, please present this to the hostess at your next meal.”

“Thank you,” Barry folded the confirmation back up and put it back in his wallet, “have a good night.”

Barry went outside were Len was fuming standing on the curb, umbrella dangling from his wrist as it appeared to have stopped raining.  Finally.  “Do you want to try another restaurant?” Barry asked, desperately trying to salvage this date night.

“What I want is to go home!” Len snarled.

Barry’s eyes widened, “No, please don’t say that.  It’s still fixable.  It’s 9:20, there has to be a table open somewhere.”

“Not anywhere nearby!”

“Want to go to Saints and Sinners?  Your table is always open in the back, Delilah makes sure of it.  We can come back and get your bike after we eat.  Tuesday’s special is a pub burger, it may not be a steak but it’s still pretty good.”

Len tilted his head as if to say Barry had a good point.  Barry sighed, the tight feeling in his chest lessened fractionally.  “Fine,” Len started to say, but before he could finish the word some asshole driving too fast hit a puddle and splashed dirty water all over Len and Barry. The shock of the cold and the grit of the water caused Barry to freeze.  This cannot seriously be happening.   “That’s. It. I. Am. Done,” Len barked.  This time Barry agreed with him, there was no salvaging this night.  It has to be the worst first date in the history of disastrous dates ever.

Barry felt the tears well up and slip down his face.  Len hated tears, so he shifted away from him so he couldn’t see he was crying, but the sniffling probably gave it away anyway.  “I am so sorry, I should never have asked you to do this,” Barry said, “and on top of it, I just wanted to plan something special, show you I could without screwing up. Actions mean more to you than words and I wanted to show you how much you mean to me.”

“Scarlet, stop,” Len said quietly, “I mean it.”

“What if I don’t want to stop?  What if I want to announce to the entire world that I love you?”

“That’s enough,” Len raised his voice and Barry took a half step back, Len shook his head and ran his fingers through his own hair, “Look, I just want to go home and pretend this entire evening never happened.”

“Fine,” Barry said before he flashed away.

Len blinked twice, did Barry just go home without him?  He said he wanted to go home.  Oh fuck, home.  He should have said condo.  How long had he been saying home when he meant condo?  He had been calling the condo home in his head for a while, looks like he said it out loud now.  Great, now he looked like an even bigger dick than he already was.  Len took a deep breath and cleared his mind, ok it would take him 11 minutes to make it back to his bike, 10 minutes to drive back to where he was staying, 5 minutes to change, and then ten minutes to drive home… to Barry’s condo.  He could call Delilah and get some food to go, that would add another 10 minutes to his drive.  No, better to save time and get delivery from that Italian place on the corner.  Decision made, Len looked both ways and prepared to run across the street when his phone rang. Maybe it was Barry?  Len was surprised to see it was Axel, he picked it up, “Now is not a good time.”

“Are you at Pearl American Bistro on Henderson Blvd?”

“What?”

“I am hacked into Cisco’s computer at STAR Labs,” Axel said, “he is watching you from security cameras from the store next door.  I am trying to figure out if the feed is real.”

“What do you mean Cisco is watching me?”

“Oh, you are not going to like this, Cold,” Axel said, “but you better get back to your place before you catch your death.  You are soaking wet and it’s 57 degrees!”

“Axel, meet me at safehouse 7 in 15 minutes!”

 

Barry came home and did his normal routine, turned off the security system, before he shut and locked the door and the deadbolt.  He took off his wet shoes, but instead of putting them under the table, he also took his socks off and walked them into the master bathroom to dry off.  Barry was cold, wet and miserable.  He stripped naked, threw his clothes in the hamper, toweled dry before he grabbed fuzzy PJ pants and put his cell phone in the charger.  He grabbed a t-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, it didn’t match but Barry didn’t care.  Len obviously wasn’t coming over tonight.  Just as he turned to leave the bedroom, his cellphone went off.  It was a snippet from Intergalactic from Beastie Boys, Cisco must have been bored and hacked his phone to change his ringtones again.  Barry picked it up and saw it was Cisco so he picked up, he forced himself to smile, “Hey, guys, how are you?”

“Great!” Iris said, sounding far away.  They must have had the speaker on, “How was your date?”

“It was amazing,” Barry lied, “there was a little mix up at the restaurant, so we are heading somewhere else to eat.  Oh… hang on a moment” Barry covered the receiver a few seconds to make it like Len was talking to him. “Hey, guys, I am sorry, but they just called our name to be seated.  Can I call you guys tomorrow?”

“You sure you are having a good time,” Caitlin asked, “your voice sounds funny.”

“Does it?” Barry asked, “that’s weird.  Yeah, we are both having a good time.  Now, we are both starving so if you don’t mind I really need to go.”

“Sure,” Iris said, sounding doubtful, “we will talk to you later.”

“Make sure to fill us in on all the juicy details!” Cisco said.

“Bye,” Barry said as he hung up his phone and threw it down on the nightstand.  He didn’t want to deal with them tonight and didn’t want to think about the grilling he would be forced to endure tomorrow.  Iris would probably be knocking at his door at 8AM with coffee and breakfast to get every single tidbit about what happened last night.   He wasn’t sure he could lie to her face.

No, he didn’t want to think about that now either.  Barry put on some random murder mystery on their Netflix queue and huddled down to watch TV.  It was a stupid show, not even remotely correct or entertaining, but it was something to watch.  Changing to another program was just more effort than Barry was willing to put in right now.

About 30 minutes into the program, Barry was jolted back to awareness by the sound of a key in the lock.  Oh no!  Iris was coming over and she was going to grill him tonight.  This wasn’t fair.  Fuck you universe for the worst fucking evening ever.  FUCK!  The deadbolt was unlocked next and the door opened, Barry grabbed the blanket and huddled under it, pretending to be a lump on the couch so she would go away.  He heard the door shut, the deadbolt and door locked and the security system beep and say “Stay.  Exit Now.”  The sound of shoes being put under the table by the door made Barry peek out from under the blankets, Iris didn’t know the alarm code and she never took her shoes off unless Barry reminded her.  “Scarlet?” Len sighed, showing him two huge shopping bags full of food, “why are you hiding under the blanket?”

“I thought you were Iris,” Barry pouted.

“And why is that?”

“They called me about 45 minutes ago to check on our date,” Barry said, “I lied and told them we were having a great time but I don’t think they believed me.”

“Ah,” Len said, “well I have dinner so let's eat.  I am sure you are starving.”

“What are you doing here, Len?  I thought you wanted to go home.”

“I am home,” Len said, “I stopped by Saints and Sinners to get some takeout because you were right.  Pub burgers sound fantastic right about now, I got about 10, and 20 orders of fries and Louie threw in an entire jar of his sweet and sour homemade pickles.  I think Delilah said there were fried mushrooms in here, they are thinking about adding them to the menu and wanted our opinion.”

“Didn’t they already have fried mushrooms?”

“Yeah, but Louie wants to move away from frozen, pre-made stuff and have an entire fresh menu.”

“Ohhhh… that will be awesome.”

“Let’s taste them first,” Len said.

“Delilah wouldn’t have given them to us if they were terrible,” Barry unwrapped himself from the blanket and flashed into the kitchen to get the plate mats, plates and silverware then flashing to set the table.  He went back into the kitchen to get the ketchup, the malt vinegar and two bottles of sparkling water.  Walking back to the dining room table, Barry realized two things.  1) The outfit he was wearing. 2) Len referred to the condo as home.  He dropped the bottles on the table before flashing back to the bedroom to change into a pair of jeans and a sweater.  “You didn’t have to change,” Len said, “in fact, I think it would be nice to change into something warm and fuzzy to curl up on the couch after dinner.  I even found a good mystery, not the crap you currently have on TV.”

“Oh crap,” Barry turned the tv off, “yeah that was bad but didn’t feel like changing the channel.”

Len started to serve the food, Barry opened up the mason jar full of pickles and took one out.  They were the smaller ones and were gone in two bites.  “I am glad you came home tonight,” he said.

“I spend most of my time here,” Len said reading between the lines of what Barry was saying, “it was only a matter of time before I got attached.”

“It is a wonderful place,” Barry looked around at his beautiful home with love and appreciation.

“I wasn’t talking about the condo,” Len said quietly, “so let's eat.  It’s 10PM.”

Barry wanted to ask him about getting heartburn but he knew better than to poke that bear.  Instead, he devoured the food, while making sure to leave enough for Len, who had to be hungry himself.  Len was strangely pensive like he had a lot on his mind and Barry wasn’t sure how to broach the subject so he didn’t.  They finished their food in record time and Barry went about cleaning up the kitchen.  Len went over to the entertainment center, then went back into the bedroom.  “Len?” Barry asked, staring at the paused scene on the TV screen.

“Let’s get changed into something comfortable,” he said, “and then watch this thing I found on TV.”

Barry went into the bedroom and saw Len standing completely naked, putting his clothes on the chair.  He grabbed his navy blue sleep pants and started to put them on.  “See something you like, Scarlet?”

“You know I do,” Barry whispered, “god, you are gorgeous.”

Len laughed, “Get changed.”

Barry didn’t think twice, he put his own sleep pants on as they headed back down the hallway together.  Len stopped in the hallway closet to grab another few blankets.  Len gestured for Barry to lay down on the arms chaise as he grabbed the DVD remote, before wrapping himself around Barry, covering them with the thick plush blankets.  Len even made sure to tuck their feet in at the bottom.  They snuggled against each other to find a comfy spot before Len pressed play.  A swell of dramatic music and the title screen appeared against the backdrop of beautiful cliffs and mist.  The Dark.  “Len?”

“I know a guy,” Len smirked as he leaned down and kissed Barry softly, “just enjoy Scarlet.” Len then slipped a hand under Barry’s sleep pants and took a firm hold of his cock as Barry whimpered at his touch.

 

It was a quarter to 11PM when Barry finally fell into a deep sleep, Len had loaded him up on carbs and gotten him off twice in a row to make sure he would sleep soundly.  The blankets would need a nice wash, but Len didn’t mind doing laundry.  He stopped the movie and turned off the tv. They would have to restart it tomorrow, Len liked this plot.  It wasn’t so much a who-dun-it as in who did it and why.  He carefully removed the soiled blanket and tossed it on the other side of the couch, he grabbed the large throw pillow and put it under Barry’s head, as he shifted his Scarlet so he was laying flat.  Luckily Barry normally slept in a fetal position or else he would have to move him now and that would wake him up.  Len carefully stood and grabbed the note he already wrote and taped it to the TV, letting Scarlet know he couldn’t sleep and was running to the store to get stuff to make breakfast tomorrow.  Len had already decided to make steak and eggs and needed the ingredients.   He turned on a nature CD in the sound system and let it play as he got changed.  When he was satisfied Barry wasn’t going to wake up, he turned off the alarm, unlocked the lock and deadbolt, reset the alarm to stay and then exited, locking up behind him.

He quickly went out the back, dropping a quick text to Axel now that his phone was working properly before getting in his car. There was a very important errand he had to run before getting the groceries.

 

Captain Cold stormed into the cortex of Star Labs, cold gun out and goggles catching West, Snow, and Cisco off guard.  There was a bottle of halfway decent vodka sitting on one of the tables, as soon as Cold saw it he froze it to the table.  It was obvious that Snow, West, and Cisco had been drinking, but they were just getting tipsy.  Good, he wouldn’t have to repeat himself.  “Captain Cold?” Cisco jumped up, West and Snow looked frightened.  West was on her cell phone so fast, Cold might have been impressed under other circumstances.  “Don’t bother, all communications out have been blocked until further notice,” Cold said, “we need to have a chat.”

“About what?” West asked, “you do anything to us, Barry will never forgive you.”

“True, but do you think he would forgive you if he were to learn that the majority of this evenings mishaps were caused by all of you?”

“Don’t know what you are talking about,” Cisco had the balls to look him in the face and lie, but he lied horribly.

“I know you made a copy of Barry’s phone, you had the numbers and details of what he planned on our little date.  You bought all the tickets to the movie at the last minute, knowing that the other films neither of us would agree on, so that would start a fight.  Cisco, you hacked the restaurant’s computer system and put in a bit of malicious code that caused it to create fake reservations and edited Barry’s to make it look like one of the fake ones, so that would start another fight.  I already spoke with Weather Wizard and know that Lisa’s boyfriend paid him five thousand dollars in cash to cook up that nasty storm.  I also know he sent a text warning the Rogues, but I never got it because my phone had been hacked.  Oh, Cisco, think what Lisa would do to you if she learned you actively sought to ruin a date I was on and end my relationship.  I think you would be looking for a new girlfriend.”

“Are you crazy?” West asked, “where is your proof?”

Cold took out a thumb drive, “Right here actually.  After your little stunt at Saints and Sinner’s last Wednesday, I have had you watched, Cisco.  I didn’t trust you, any of you, to keep your word to Scarlet about leaving us alone after this date.  What I didn’t know is that you would all do everything within your power to make sure that the date was a total disaster so that we would end things.  I didn’t think you all would be that cold.  What is on this thumb drive is a copy of the screen at Cisco’s workstation, showing you watching us through security cameras, copies of the texts and emails between each of you about this ‘mission’ and between Cisco and Lisa concerning Mardon.  I have made multiple copies of these documents so if you would somehow destroy this one, I have plenty of back up copies.”

“Hartley has a telltale signature,” Cisco argued, “the security would have alerted us if he hacked the system again.”

“Maybe your security isn’t as good as you think, I broke in here with no issues and took over your communications.  Maybe it’s time for an upgrade.”

“I don’t believe you,” Snow said, “you are a world class liar and master manipulator.  Whatever your plans are concerning Barry they end now!”

“You don’t get to say when things are over between Barry and me, only we get to say that.”

“You fought the entire time!” West said, “you were a complete asshole.”

“And how would you know that?  Barry told you he had a great time, we were waiting to be seated at another restaurant.”

“How did you know that?” Cisco asked.

Cold just smirked, “Maybe because we were there.”

“He was home!”

“How do you know that?”

“Because we were tracking the signal on his phone,” Snow said.

“Invasion of privacy.”

“We don’t trust you,” West said, “he has always been a bit stupid when it comes to you, seeing this goodness where everyone else just sees a self-serving bastard…”

“I could actually care less what you three think of me,” Cold cut off West from her rant, “so save the sanctimonious bull shit for someone who cares.  What I do care about is Barry and I won’t be sharing with him what you did tonight because it will break his heart if you all behave.”

“We are trying to protect him from you.”

“Now I am trying to protect him from you three,” Cold said, “now listen to me very carefully.  You back off my relationship with Barry and do what you promised, which is be all supportive if the date went well and we decided to still see each other afterward (because we have decided to stay together).”

“But you two fought the entire time!?” Cisco yelled in his frustration.

“Ever heard of makeup sex?” Cold shook his head.

Cisco made a gagging sound, West just tightened her arms around her chest and Snow just look totally baffled.  Barry had mentioned she was a lightweight, even though she liked to pretend she could hold her alcohol.  Give her a moment, she will figure it out.  “Now, you do what you promised and be supportive of Barry’s decision or I will give this information to Barry and he will be totally devastated that you not only played him for a fool by setting up this disastrous date but all that damn planning he did to make the perfect goddamn date was undone by a few keystrokes and a cash payment to Mardon.”

Snow had the decency to look at the floor, West looked defiant and Cisco was pouting in frustration.  What did his baby sister see in him?  Speaking of which.  “And Cisco, I wasn’t kidding about telling Lisa.  I will be glad to tell her how she helped you attempt to ruin my thing with Barry.  She doesn’t trust easy, but she obviously trusts you.  When she learns how you played her, your relationship is over and she may add some gold to your family jewels.  Oh and if you ever play her for a fool again, I would hesitate to freeze and break off all of your appendages.  Understand?”

“Cold...”

“Do you understand?” his voice went even icier.

“Perfectly.”

“You are damn lucky I know how much you love my sister,” Cold said, “or that vodka wouldn’t be the only thing wrapped in ice.”

“I still think you are bluffing,” West said.

“Then try me,” Cold said smirking.

“I don’t care what you do, Cold,” Snow said, “if you hurt Barry, not even your little attempt at blackmail will stop us from coming after you and kicking your ass.”

“Duly noted,” Cold said, “now the ball is in your court.  Play nice.  Or else.  I will be seeing you around.”

 

Len was particularly worried that West would test his resolve, but that was her own stupidity.  Cisco and Snow would tow the line, Cisco especially.  He drove to the nearest all-night supermarket, it was a few blocks from the condo and parked near Axel’s compact.  He didn’t have to wait long for the Trickster to appear with plastic grocery bags.  Axel made a quick ‘hang on a second’ gesture and pulled a canvas bag from the back of his car before approaching the driver’s side of Len’s car.  “Ok, I got everything you requested.  The t-bones didn’t look that impressive, but the ribeyes were nice.  Salt and pepper each side liberally and cook four minutes a side.  Make sure to oil the grill pan with olive oil and that it is smoking hot before you put the steaks on and only move to flip them.  When they are done cooking let them rest for 2-3 minutes before cutting them or else all the juices will drain out.”

“We don’t have a grill pan.”

“You are borrowing mine,” Axel handed him the canvas bag, “and I want this back!”

The corners of Len’s mouth turned up, “Ok, you will get it back.”

“I included a decent loaf of ancient grains bread, whipped Irish butter, and a dozen extra large eggs.  There are a small thing of yokan gold potatoes and one large red onion in case you want to make hashbrowns as well.”

Len took the grocery bags from Axel and the receipt.  He took out his wallet and gave Axel a hundred dollar bill.  “Keep the change and don’t mention this to Mark,” Len said, “I don’t want this getting back to my sister.”

“I won’t.  Cross my heart and hope to die,” Axel solemnly swore and Len rolled his eyes.

“Go home and get some sleep.”

“Good night,” Axel turned and went back into his car.  Len took his van out of park and drove home.  He was getting tired and wanted to just go to bed.  Len was able to carry all the bags at once with easy, the security was used to them coming in and going out at odd hours.  They knew Barry was a CSI and they might have thought Len was a restaurant owner.  They helped him open up the front door and into the elevator with their normal prompt politeness, which Len returned.  He was glad to be at the door, he was really tired now and just dropped the bags, opened the locks and the front door, kicked the bags in as he turned off the alarm.  He could hear the light snore coming from the couch as he took off his boots and put them next to Barry’s shoes under the table.  Good, Barry didn’t even know he was gone.  He brought the bags in, closed the door and locked the lock and the deadbolt before resetting the alarm to ‘stay'.  He put the groceries away before making his nightly security check of the apartment.  The windows were secure and he closed all the curtains.  He changed back into his sleep pants, folding and putting his clothes away when he was done.  Len washed his face, brushed his teeth and hide the cold gun under the bed (he had it hidden in Axel’s cloth tote) before he went out to collect his sleeping Barry.

Len shook Barry lightly, turning off the CD player, as Barry blinked back to awareness.  “Did I miss the end of the movie?”

“I turned it off,” Len said, “I went and picked up some breakfast for us tomorrow since I couldn’t sleep and you keep a horribly stocked fridge.”

“Hmmmm…?  Normally it’s cereal and toast.”

“Tomorrow it’s steak and eggs since I didn’t get my steak dinner tonight,” Len teased, “and Axel gave him his secret to perfect steak so it will be amazing.”

“Yum,” Barry said as Len unwrapped him from the blanket cocoon and helped him stand.   Barry yawned as they walked back to the bedroom.  “You know,” Barry said as he pulled down the covers on his side of the bed before sliding in, “you are welcome whenever you are ready to move in here.”

“Good night, Barry,” Len said, turning down his own side of the bed, ignoring the warm feeling in his chest at the invitation.  Although if he was being totally honest, he really moved in here months ago, Barry didn’t need to know that.  He just had his clothes scattered around different safe houses for convenience, which he had done since his early 20s.  Too dangerous having all your belongings in one space.  But Barry didn’t need to know that either.  There was something Barry did need to know though, as he shifted to the middle of the bed and pulled Barry into his arms he whispered very quietly in his ear as he drifted off to sleep, “I love you to, god help anyone who dares try to take you away from me.”

 

Barry woke up feeling better than he had in ages, wrapped firmly in Len’s arms.  Barry smiled, he could tell Len was awake by his breathing and probably had to go to the bathroom but wasn’t ready to let him go yet.  He opened his eyes and saw it was 4:30AM.  “Mmmmm,” Barry asked even though he damn well knew what time it was, “what time is it?”

“Too early for you to be awake, go back to sleep.  I will get us up at 6:30,” Len kissed him on the cheek.  Barry had absolutely no desire to go back to sleep but faked it anyway by closing his eyes.  Len kissed his shoulder as he pulled away and went into the master bathroom, closing the door behind him.  Barry went to work quickly, he stripped off his sleep pants and threw them over to his closet, grabbed the lube and a condom from the nightstand drawer and had them in easy reach before moving back in the center of the bed.  Hopefully, Len wouldn’t see his handy work with the lights out.  The bathroom lights went out before Len opened up the door, and came back to bed.  Barry let Len get comfortable before he rolled over and snuggled against him, kissing his neck softly.  Len let out a quick exhale of breath as Barry’s hand rested on his chest, moved over to his right nipple and gave it a light pinch.  Len’s nipples were sensitive and playing with them was the fastest way to get him turned on.  “Barry,” Len groaned.

Barry grinned and kissed down his neck and chest until he reached his nipple, moving his hand over to tease the other one as he gave the right one slow, long licks with the flat of his tongue.  “You taste so good,” Barry sighed as he blew on the nipple he had just been licking, “I want more.  Let me suck you, Len, I need you.”

“If that’s what you want, Scarlet.”

“What I want is to get you rock hard and then for you to fuck me, I have felt so empty without you inside of me.  This past almost week now has been torture, Len, please lets never do anything like that again.  Promise me.”

“I won’t lie to you,” Len said, “but I will do everything in my power to make sure that nothing like this happens again.”

Barry smiled and gave him a joy-filled kiss before beginning the journey back down his neck and chest, down his taut abdomen, pausing only to remove Len’s sleep pants, pulling them completely off and throwing them toward what should be and soon would be Len’s closet if he had anything to say about it.  Len turned the bedside lamp on (he was a surprisingly visual person and loved to watch Barry blow him) and laughed quietly, “I see you are prepared, Scarlet.”

Barry blushed as he pulled the covers down to Len’s midthigh.  His cock was just starting to show interest and Barry leaned down and licked the head lightly with the tip of his tongue before kissing down his cock, slow, wet, sloppy kisses.  He doesn’t stop when he reaches the base, he kept going lower until he reached his balls kissing them, licking them with infinite care.  Moaning at their taste as he gently took one into his mouth and sucked.  They were so heavy, Len would have plenty of cum for him tonight and Barry wanted to every once of his cum, drain his balls dry.  “Oh, yeah, Scarlet,” Len moaned, “all that cum is for you.  I am gonna cum so hard for you, I promise.”

Barry let out a blissed-out whine as he switched to Len’s other ball, giving it the same tender treatment, his hands took a firm hold of Len’s cock and started to pump him.  Thumb teasing the tip with every upward motion.  It didn’t take long to get him rock hard and dribbling precum from the tip, the sounds that Len was were delicious.  From whimpers, groans, to sweet sighs, Barry ate them all up, encouraging him to do more, go further in his never-ending pursuit to please Len.  Barry gathered the wetness and used it to lubricate the slide of his hand, as he carefully released Len’s balls from his mouth and swiftly suck on the tip of his cock.  Len cried out, his hips bucking into Barry’s mouth.  “That’s it Scarlet,” Len said, “suck my cock.  God, it looks so beautiful between your lips.”

Barry tried to smile, but it was hard around Len’s thick cock, instead he made eye contact with Len.  Normally he was too shy to hold the intensity of Len’s gaze when they are having sex, the unending well of lust and over the past seven months, affection and trust grew as well always made him nervous.  Question if he was worthy of all that from Len, but at least for know, Barry stopped questioning and let himself look at Len with all the love and desire he held for the man on a regular basis.  Len’s eyes grew wider, as his pupils blew impossibly bigger.   He took as much of Len as he could into his mouth and sucked, hollowing out his cheeks, pumping the rest of his hand.  Len’s hips gave tiny encouraging thrusts, Len’s hand trembled as he ran his fingers through Barry’s hair, petting him more than holding him in place.    The sound of wet, obscene slurps and ragged breathing dominated the room until Len yanked on Barry’s hair.  “Stop… goddamn, Scarlet… shit… I don’t want to cum down your throat. At least tonight.”

Barry released Len’s cock with a pop, spit dribbled down his chin as he smiled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  “I love sucking your cock.”

“And you are an amazing cock sucker, shit baby.  Thank god you didn’t vibrate or that would have been over far too soon,” Len sighed as he reached for the bottle of lube, “now show me that beautiful ass, Scarlet, I will open you up and get you ready for my cock.”

Barry turned around, Len sat up flat against the headboard as Barry straddled his thighs and bent over, resting his face of one of Len’s covered calves, holding onto his feet to ground himself.  Barry heard the sound of the cap opening and felt the biting chill of a finger covered in a thick layer of lube tease the outside his entrance.  Len loved to tease him but Barry was in no mood tonight as he shifted his hips back and felt the fingertip enter him. “Please, Len, I need you now.  We can play tonight, I promise.”

Len did not respond, instead, he pushed his finger all the way inside, Barry making sure to keep himself very relaxed to hurry up the process.  It didn’t take long for Len to add a second finger, scissoring him open, making sure to seek out and tease his prostate.  Barry vibrated as soon as Len touched his prostate and god, he must have known how eager Barry was for it.  “Shhhh,” Len leaned forward and kissed the small of his back, “it’s ok, Scarlet, I am here.  I will fill your ass full of my cock soon.  Just be patient a little while longer.”

Barry nodded, letting loose this high pitched whine as he tried to get Len’s fingers deeper.  Len gave into Barry’s demands and fingered him deeply, stretching him carefully as he pumped his fingers in and out of Barry’s always tight ass.  “God, Scarlet,” Len moaned, “it’s like virgin tight every time.”

“You won’t hurt me,” Barry said, “please, Len, I am ready.”

“Almost there, I promise, just a bit more.”

Barry was about to complain when Len suddenly stopped finger fucking him, and instead massaged his prostate.  Barry vibrated as white-hot waves of pleasure shot through his body.  “It’s ok, Scarlet,” Len laughed lightly, “you like that?”

Barry didn’t trust his voice, he just nodded vigorously as Len kept up the sweet pressure. Len muttered sweet words of encouragement but Barry could barely make them out, but Len’s voice washed over him like a warm rain making him feel so adored and safe, time itself seemed to stop.  It might have been seconds, it could have been hours but Barry felt his orgasm rushing toward him.   Barry reached back to take his cock in his hand, but Len slapped his hand away.  “You cum from my fingers, or you don’t cum at all today,” Len growled and Barry instantly obeyed and was rewarded just the tiniest bit more pressure. 

“I’m gonna cum, Len.”

“Then cum for me, Barry,” Len ordered, voice just edging into the Captain Cold territory, which Barry found fucking hot in the bedroom. He came hard on Len’s command, vibrating so hard the bed was shaking as he shot ribbons of cum on Len’s stomach and some even reaching his balls.  Barry was so blissed out that he let Len manhandle him, shifting their position, but always one hand touching him as if he knew that Barry needed his touch to anchor him.  Barry just sighed as he felt a third finger carefully enter him, stretching him just a bit further, his cock still hard.  He felt Len shift him again as he came down from his orgasmic high, he was laying on his back, a pillow under his butt and Len petting the inside of his thigh.  “You back with me, Scarlet?”

“Yes,” Barry smiled, “definitely.”

“Good,” Len grinned as he guided his cock to Barry’s ass and slowly pushed in, both moaning at the contact.  Barry wrapped his legs around Len’s waist as Len leaned down, putting his hands on the bed just above Barry’s shoulders to support himself as he leaned in and kissed him softly.  Barry’s heart sped up, Len would make out with him as foreplay but they never did they kiss any other time, especially during sex.  He carefully opened his mouth and Len wasted no time slipping his tongue inside to run along Barry’s, coaxing him to play as Len finally bottomed out, giving him a few moments to adjust.  Oh fucking dammit, Len was so fucking big.  He felt so full, so gloriously full, he lifted his hips to push Len just a little bit deeper as his tongue met Len’s in a playful dance.   Len let out a groan as he finally (FINALLY!) began to move, starting slow, pulling out only an inch before thrusting back in, then two inches… methodically taking his time as only Leonard Snart could in the bedroom.  Instead of complaining at the slow pace, Barry just melted into Len.  Enjoying the feel of his cock inside him, moving slowly, letting Barry feel every damn inch of him.  Barry could have sworn he felt Len get even bigger, a feat Barry thought was impossible. 

Len only broke the kiss when he needed the leverage to thrust hard and deep into him.  Barry was quick to lean up and kiss Len again, dirty, wet, filthy kisses as Len pounded Barry’s ass hard.  Len was getting close, Barry could tell.  Len broke the kiss, rested his forehead against Barry’s, looking deep into Barry’s eyes and growled out, “No one is taking you from me.  No one.”

“I am here,” Barry moaned, meeting every one of Len’s thrusts, starting to vibrate uncontrollably.  He had purposely held off on vibrating because he didn’t want this to be over too soon, “I am yours, Len, I am not going anywhere.”

“Mine?  Mine! Damn, right you are mine.  My Barry, my Speedster, my Scarlet!”

“I love you so much,” Barry whimpered, “my beautiful thief.  Beautiful, amazing, brilliant thief.”

Len cried out as Barry vibrated strongly, while Len was deep inside of him.  “Scarlet!” Len cried out.

“Cum for me, my darling thief, you promised to cum so hard for me.”

“Not yet,” Len shook his head.

“Yes,” Barry said, “I am close.  Please, Len.”

Len just shook his head as he slowed the pace just a bit to make it last longer, but Barry wasn’t having any of it.  He reached down between their bodies and took hold of his sweat covered cock and jerked it a few times.  His body vibrating as he prepared to cum again, it didn’t take long for him to shoot another thick stream of cum from his cock hitting both he and Len’s stomachs, the rest dribbled from the head.  Barry tightened almost painfully around Len’s cock, vibrating hard, and moved his mouth to Barry’s shoulder, and used the skin there to muffle the triumphant sound of his release.  Len’s body jerked and spasmed lightly as he just kept coming.  Barry wished that Len would be comfortable not using a condom one of these days so he could feel the cum inside of him, but that was a discussion for another day.  Barry just held on to Len through his orgasm, his shoulder felt wet and Barry turned to see tears streaming down Len’s face.  Barry didn’t know what to do so he just held on even tighter, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.  

They lay like that for a while, not as long as Barry would have liked but the drying cum became uncomfortable.  Len carefully slid out and both hissed when the connection was broken.  Len removed the condom and knotted it at the base before getting up slowly, he seemed a little unsure on his feet at first.  He went into the bathroom and returned with a warm washcloth to clean Barry up very softly, knowing how sensitive Barry would still be.  He threw the washcloth in the sink and missed with a wet plop.  “Fuck it, I will deal with it later,” Len groaned as he crawled back into bed, shifting Barry so he would be under the covers with him.  It was almost 5:30, Barry was torn between just getting up or getting another hour’s worth of sleep. 

Oh, who was he kidding he was Barry Allen.  He was going to choose sleep, only earth-shattering sex with Len would ever be picked before sleep and that had already been accomplished.  But first….

“Are you ok?” Barry asked, placing a soft kiss over Len’s heart.

“Fine,” he said quietly, “that was just really good.”

“Yeah, it was,” Barry lifted his head to look Len in the eyes, “I know things got intense…”

“Barry,” Len’s voice was a clear warning.

“I just want to know if you are ok with me calling you my thief, because I really, really, really like it.”

“If I can call you mine then it is only fair you can call me yours,” Len said as if that should be obvious.

“It’s only fair,” Barry echoed the sentiment, a million-watt grin spread over his face and Len groaned, “Go back to sleep, Barry.  It’s too damn early for all this cheerfulness!”

“Yes, my thief,” he gave Len a quick kiss, before snuggling down against his chest, his ear over Len’s heart.  Nothing soothed Barry more than the sound of Len’s heartbeat.

 

Barry woke when Len gently pulled away, placing Barry’s head on Len’s pillow to get a few more minutes of sleep.  He heard the sound of Len turning the alarm clock off before heading into the bathroom.  Barry dozed but couldn’t go back to sleep without Len in the bed with him.  He relaxed to the sound of Len taking a shower in the master bathroom.  Normally he was showered and dressed in 10 minutes, but this time felt as if he took a little longer.  Len left the bathroom and Barry expected him to wake him up, but instead, he went down the hallway.  He would do another security check and get started on breakfast.  He said something about making a special breakfast, didn’t he?  Barry’s stomach growled in response to the thought.  He heard a knife cutting something in the kitchen and the sweet smell of French roast coffee brewing in the pot.  That was enough to get him out of bed and into the bathroom for a pit stop before heading out to the kitchen, completely naked.  Len was so focused on slicing potatoes that he didn’t pay attention to him.  Barry made himself a cup of coffee and noticed Len hadn’t made himself one yet, the pot must have just finished.  That coffee maker was slow.  “Want me to make you a cup?”

“Please,” Len said, so Barry did.  Just like Len liked it, two packets of monk fruit-in-the-raw and a splash of peppermint mocha coffee creamer stirred very well.  He put the cup down a few inches from the cutting board, placing a soft kiss by Len’s hairline.  Len turned to kiss him and then noticed he was naked.  “Go jump in the shower,” he grinned, “or else you are going to be very, very late for work.”

“Oh, why couldn’t today by my second shift day?” Barry sighed as he turned to go back toward the master bathroom, slowly, allowing Len to enjoy the view.  He was in and out of the shower, completed dressed in 15 minutes. There was a huge grill pan on the stove getting hot, while potatoes and onions were frying on one of the back burners, Len was currently beating eggs that were destined for the front fry pan. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Just drink your coffee,” Len said, “I have this.”

Barry grabbed his cup where he set it next to the coffee pot and leaned against the doorway, watching Len work.  He made breakfast with the same intensity he did everything, but that was his darling, brilliant thief and he wouldn’t trade him for the world.

 

Epilogue

 

Barry met Iris at Jitters during his lunch break, she looked a little worse for wear this morning.  He could tell she must have had a few drinks last night and was still feeling a bit hungover.  Barry went and got them both their usual drinks before joining her at a table as far away from the sun as possible.  Iris smiled but it was a thin smile, “So how was the date last night?”

“Amazing,” Barry grinned, “it was outside both our comfort zones but in the end, we had a great time.”

“I am glad,” Iris said, then cocked her head to one side gingerly and chewed on her lower lip a quick moment, “Barry, are you in love with him?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, “I am.”

A shadow passed over Iris’ face and Barry sighed inwardly, “Look, I know you don’t approve.  Caitlin and Cisco probably don’t as well and I am ok with that.  I am counting on you to follow through on your promise and support Len and me together.  If you cannot then I guess you won’t be seeing too much of me outside of work.”

Iris blinked twice, “You really mean that?”

“Yes,” Barry said, “I love you, Iris, like a sister and you are my best friend but I won’t pick you over my boyfriend, who has had to put up with a lot of shit to be with me.  He hasn’t dumped my ass yet for some of the stupid things I have done, like forcing him to go on a date to appease my sister, even though he hates going out.  If you will just give him a chance, and treat him with common human decency you will eventually get to see the brilliant, sweet, wonderful guy that is under that frosty exterior.”

“Oh my god, did you just make a cold pun?” Iris raised one of her eyebrows and Barry grinned and nodded, “fine, Barry, if he means that much to you then yes, I will support you and him together.  That being said, if he steps out of line or does anything to put you in danger then I still have the right to kick his ass.”

“As well you should,” Barry agreed, briefly imagining the shovel talk Lisa would give him if when she ever found out about them.  It caused a shiver to go up his spine as he reached for his coffee and took a sip.  He found himself strangely looking forward to that day, even if he had to dodge gold gun blasts.


End file.
